Country On Premise Purchase Age Off Premise Purchase Age Notes

Afghanistan Total ban Total ban

Albania 18 18

Algeria 18 18

Andorra 18 18

Angola 18 18

Antigua and Barbuda 10 10

Argentina 18 18

Armenia 18 18

Australia 18 18

Austria 16/18 16/18 Alcohol laws vary by state: three states have an age minimum of 16 while six states have a minimum age of 18.

Azerbaijan 18 18

Bahamas 18 18

Bahrain Illegal (18 for non-Muslims) Illegal (18 for non-Muslims) No info provided by WHO. Alcohol is illegal for Muslims, and drinking in public is forbidden. Only certain places are allowed to sell alcohol.

Bangladesh Total ban Total ban Alcohol is illegal for Muslims and purchase by others is highly restricted. Non-Muslim tourists are allowed to bring two bottles of alcohol for personal use.

Barbados 18 18 Sources say children ages 10-17 may drink in the presence of a parent or guardian.

Belarus 18 18

Belgium 16/18 16/18 On- and off-premise age minimum is 16 for beer and wine/18 for spirits.

Belize 18 18

Benin No age minimum No age minimum

Bhutan 18 18

Bolivia No age minimum No age minimum The drinking age used to be listed as 18, but the WHO no longer lists any age minimum.

Bosnia and Herzegovina 18 18

Botswana 18 18

Brazil 18 18

Brunei Darussalam Total ban Total ban Non-Muslim tourists over age 17 may be allowed to import 2 bottles of liquor and 12 cans of beer for personal use.

Bulgaria 18 18

Burkina Faso No age minimum No age minimum

Burundi 18 No age minimum

Cambodia No age minimum No age minimum

Cameroon No age minimum No age minimum The WHO lists no drinking age; other sources say 18 on-premise and 21 off-premise.

Canada 18/19 18/19 18: Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec; 19: British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Yukon

Cape Verde 18 18

Central African Republic 21 15

Chad 18 18

Chile 18 18

China No age minimum No age minimum The WHO lists no drinking age; other sources say a 2006 ban instituted a drinking age of 18 but say it is not enforced.

Colombia 18 18

Comoros 18 18

Congo 16 18 On-premise age minimum is 16 for beer and wine/18 for spirits.

Costa Rica 18 18

Côte d’Ivoire 21 21

Croatia 18 18

Cuba 18 18

Cyprus 17 17

Czech Republic 18 18

Country On Premise Purchase Age Off Premise Purchase Age Notes

Democratic Republic of the Congo 18 18

Denmark 18 16/18 Off-premise age minimum is 16 for beer and wine/18 for spirits.

Djibouti N/A N/A No info provided by WHO.

Dominica 16 16

Dominican Republic 18 18

Ecuador 18 18

Egypt 18/21 18/21 On- and off-premise age minimum is 18 for beer/21 for wine and spirits.

El Salvador 18 18

Equatorial Guinea 21 21

Eritrea 18 18

Estonia 18 18

Ethiopia 18 18

Fiji 18 18

Finland 18 18/20 Off-premise age minimum is 18 for beer and wine/20 for spirits.

France 18 18

Gabon 18 No age minimum

Gambia 18 18

Georgia 18 18

Germany 16/18 16/18 On- and off-premise age minimum is 16 for beer and wine/18 for spirits.

Ghana 18 18

Greece 18 18

Grenada 16 16

Guatemala 18 18

Guinea 18 18

Guinea-Bissau No age minimum No age minimum

Guyana 18 16

Haiti 16 16 No info provided by WHO; other sources list drinking age as 16.

Honduras 18 18

Hungary 18 18

Iceland 20 20

India 18-25 18-25 The drinking age varies by state. In New Delhi, for example, the drinking age is 25, while in Goa it is 18. Mahrashtra’s Wardha district has a drinking age of 30.

Indonesia No age minimum 21

Iran Total ban Total ban The alcohol ban was instituted after the 1979 revolution. In 2012, an Iranian news organization reported that two people were sentenced to death for drinking alcohol following two previous convictions for those same people, for which each received 80 lashes. A 2004 WHO report noted that “Religious minorities can buy alcoholic beverages from very few specifically licensed shops owned by shopkeepers of the same minority.”

Iraq 21 21 Sources say only Iraqi Christians are permitted to sell alcohol; alcohol sales were banned entirely from 2006-08.

Ireland 18 18

Israel 18 18

Italy 18 18

Jamaica 18 18

Japan 20 20

Jordan 18 18

Kazakhstan 18 18

Kenya 18 18

Kiribati 21 21

Kosovo No age minimum No age minimum No info provided by WHO; other sources list no age minimum or say the drinking age is 18.

Country On Premise Purchase Age Off Premise Purchase Age Notes

Kuwait Total ban Total ban No info provided by WHO; Alcohol has been banned since 1964 and drinking has been a criminal offense since 1983.

Kyrgyzstan 18 18

Laos 18/No No age minimum On-premise age minimum is 18 for beer; no age minimum listed for wine or spirits.

Latvia 18 18

Lebanon N/A N/A No info provided by WHO; other sources list 16 or 18 as the drinking age

Lesotho 18 18

Liberia 18 18

Libya Total ban Total ban

Liechtenstein 16/18 16/18 No info provided by WHO; other sources list 16 for beer and wine/18 for spirits.

Lithuania 18 18

Luxembourg 16 16

Macedonia 18 18

Madagascar 18 18

Malawi 18 18

Malaysia 18 18

Maldives Total ban Total ban

Mali No age minimum No age minimum

Malta 17 17

Marshall Islands N/A N/A No info provided by WHO.

Mauritania Total ban Total ban

Mauritius 18 18

Mexico 18 18

Micronesia 21 21

Moldova 18 18

Monaco 18 18

Mongolia 21 21

Montenegro 18 18

Morocco 16/18 16/18 No info provided by WHO; other sources list 16 or 18 as the drinking age.

Mozambique 18 18

Myanmar 18 18

Namibia 18 18

Nauru 21 21 No info provided by WHO; other sources list 21 as the drinking age.

Nepal 18 18

Netherlands 18 18 The WHO lists age 16 as the on- and off-premise age minimum for beer, but the Netherlands government website says that as of Jan. 2014, “It is a criminal offence for anyone under 18 to have alcohol in their possession in public and selling alcohol to minors is illegal.”

New Zealand 18 18

Nicaragua 18 18

Niger 18 18

Nigeria 18 18

North Korea N/A N/A No info provided by WHO.

Norway 18/20 18/20 On- and off-premise age miniumum is 18 for beer and wine/20 for spirits.

Oman 21 21

Pakistan Illegal (21 for non-Muslims) Illegal (21 for non-Muslims) Alcohol is illegal for Muslims and consumption is a crime in Pakistan punishable by whipping. Non-Muslims are are provided special permits to purchase liquor but they are not allowed to use it in public. Pakistan penal code, under the Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order of 1979, awards 80 lashes to those convicted of consuming alcohol.

Palau 21 21

Panama 18 18

Papua New Guinea 18 18

Paraguay 20 20

Peru 18 18

Philippines 18 18

Poland 18 18

Portugal 16 16

Qatar Total ban Total ban No info provided by WHO; other sources say that alcohol is banned for Muslims. Alcohol for non-Muslims is highly restricted and may be purchased at certain hotels or with a permit to shop at a government­-owned store. The country has said it intends to find “creative” solutions for the alcohol restrictions while hosting the 2022 World Cup.

Country On Premise Purchase Age Off Premise Purchase Age Notes

Romania 18 18

Russia 18 18

Rwanda 18 No age minimum

Saint Kitts and Nevis 18 18

Saint Lucia 16 18

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 16 16

Samoa 21 21 No info provided by WHO; other sources list 21

San Marino 16 16

Sao Tome and Principe No age minimum No age minimum

Saudi Arabia Total ban Total ban

Senegal 18 18 WHO lists the drinking age as 18; other sources say 20 or that there is no drinking age.

Serbia 18 18

Seychelles 18 18

Sierra Leone No age minimum No age minimum

Singapore 18 18

Slovakia 18 18

Slovenia 18 18

Solomon Islands No age minimum 21 No info provided by WHO; other sources say drinking age is 21 but there is no minimum age for purchase.

Somalia Total ban Total ban

South Africa 18 18

South Korea 19 19

South Sudan N/A N/A No info provided by WHO.

Spain 16 16 WHO lists the drinking age as 16; other sources say that the minimum age varies by region, that it is 18, or that minors may purchase alcohol if accompanied by their parents.

Sri Lanka 21 21

Sudan Total ban Total ban

Suriname 18 18

Swaziland 18 18

Sweden 18 18/20 18 for beer/20 for wine and spirits

Switzerland 16/18 16/18 16 for beer and wine/18 for spirits

Syria 18 18

Tajikistan 18 18

Tanzania 18 18

Thailand 20 20

Timor-Leste No age minimum No age minimum

Togo No age minimum No age minimum

Tonga 18 18

Trinidad and Tobago 18 18

Tunisia 18 18

Turkey 18 18

Turkmenistan 18 18

Tuvalu 18 18

Uganda 18 18

Ukraine 18 18

United Arab Emirates Total ban Total ban No info provided by WHO; other sources say alcohol is banned in UAE, but non-Muslim tourists may apply for a drinking license. The license is apparently very difficult to obtain and may be limited to those over 18 or 21, depending on location.

United Kingdom 18 18

United States 21 21 The repeal of prohibition by the 21st Amendment on Dec. 5, 1933 allowed each state to set its own alcohol consumption laws. Following the July 1, 1971 passage of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the legal voting age from 21 to 18 years of age, 30 US states lowered the MLDA to 18, 19, or 20. By 1982, only 14 states still had an MLDA of 21. The enactment of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 prompted states to raise their legal age for purchase or public possession of alcohol to 21 or risk losing millions in federal highway funds. By 1988, all 50 states had raised the MLDA to 21.

Uruguay 18 18

Uzbekistan 20 20

Vanuatu 18 18 No info provided by WHO; other sources say 18.

Vatican City (Holy See) 18 18 No info provided by WHO; other sources say 18.

Venezuela 18 18

Vietnam 18 18

Yemen Total ban Total ban In 2012, Al Qaeda militants reportedly gave four people 80 lashes each for drinking alcohol.

Zambia 18 18

Zimbabwe 18 18