Which Asian country drinks the most?

Asians don’t normally strike one as the booze gulping kind, but in fact it’s a region where fiery Chinese Baijiu, homemade Thai whisky and Korean Soju are drunk with outright intemperance.

Rapper Snoop Dogg with Korean pop sensation Psy drinking Soju

A recently available 2015 report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that South Koreans are the region’s heaviest drinkers with the highest per capita alcohol consumption, way ahead of runner up Vietnam, thanks to Koreans’ taste for Soju, the country’s fermented rice wine.

According to the WHO’s Global Health Observatory Data Repository, South Koreans aged over 15 drink 10.9 litres of alcohol a year on average, reported Strait Times.

Vietnam came in second, consuming 8.7 litres of alcohol a year, followed by Thailand with 8.3 litres of alcohol consumed annually. Mongolia came in forth with a capita consumption of 7.8 litres while, the fifth-ranked China, drank 7.6 litres.

Surprisingly Singapore and Japan, two arguably mature alcohol markets, fell behind. Singapore, which has strict laws on alcohol consumption, only drank 2.9 litres a year on average, making it just the 11^th heaviest drinking nation in Asia.

Japan meanwhile was tied with Laos as sixth, drinking on average 7.5 litres a year.

Cambodia’s alcohol consumption is on the rise as well, with its people consuming 6.1 litres a year. The Philippines’ growing drinking culture kicked up its alcohol consumption to 5.6 litres.

India, despite being more of a spirits drinking country, consumed 4.6 litres year on average, slightly ahead of Sri Lanka’s 4.5 litres.

Not surprisingly, the teetotalers and abstinent countries are Muslim countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Indonesia’s per capita alcohol consumption is only 0.6 litres a year, followed by Bangladesh’s 0.2 litres.

Alcohol consumption in Pakistan is almost non-existent with only 0.1 litres a year.