Legal Drinking Age Globally

Drinking or purchasing schedules of age changes or laws restricting access to alcohol for minors: Police may search minors in public places and confiscate or destroy alcoholic beverages in their possession. Incidents are reported to the legal guardian and child protection services, who may be involved in child protection proceedings. In addition, a fine is imposed on persons aged 15 and over. [167] The minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) is the minimum age at which a person is legally permitted to handle or consume alcoholic beverages. MLDA laws cover a wide range of topics, including when and where alcohol can be consumed and vary from country to country. The majority of countries have set the MLDA at 18 or 19 years. The United States (excluding Puerto Rico and the island of Virginia) and 19 other countries, particularly Asian countries, have the highest MLDA. However, some parts of India have an alcohol drinking age of 25 to 30 years. In some countries, especially Muslim countries, alcohol is completely banned, with one exception sometimes for non-Muslims.

Most Russians believe that the minimum drinking age in the country is 18. However, there are no laws or regulations prohibiting minors from consuming alcoholic beverages. On the contrary, selling alcohol to people under the age of 18 is prohibited by federal and state laws and can result in fines and even jail time. It is technically legal for minors to possess and consume alcohol at home and in public (not on authorized premises), as there is no law prohibiting it. It is also technically legal for someone to buy alcohol and give it to minors outside the store or licensed establishments. [104] In Canada, India and the United Arab Emirates, different regions have different legal drinking ages. On the other hand, “some countries have a total ban on alcohol, so it`s not legal to sell to anyone,” said Dag Rekve, a researcher at WHO`s Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse in Geneva, Switzerland. The legal age for the consumption and purchase of alcohol in the Faroe Islands is 18 years. [163] The legal drinking age is the minimum age at which a person can legally consume alcoholic beverages. The minimum age at which alcohol can be legally consumed may differ from the age at which it can be purchased in some countries. These laws vary from country to country and many laws provide for exceptions or special circumstances. Most laws only apply to alcohol consumption in public places, with alcohol consumption in the home generally unregulated (an exception is the UK, which has a legal age of five for supervised consumption in private places).

Some countries also have different age limits for different types of alcoholic beverages. [1] Most countries have a legal drinking age of 18 or 19. [2] As the WHO says, the consumption of alcoholic beverages is a large part of social gatherings and celebrations in many parts of the world, but moderation remains key. In many countries, the age at which one can legally drink is considered an important stage of life. This age has also been discussed for a long time. Should the minimum drinking age coincide with a country`s voting age, the age of conscription, the age at which you can buy a lottery ticket or rent a car? Or should it be an age in itself? The drinking age in the United States is 21, although this is not the case in all other countries or even in some states in the United States. Some countries even prefer not to impose such restrictions. The drinking age in Ireland, for example, does not exist in a private home. The second most common minimum age for alcohol consumption is 18. In fact, 35% of the countries on our list follow this rule.

The most common third age for drinking is listed as “illegal” and the fourth most common age is 21, just like in the United States. The U.S. is twinned with only seven other countries with a drinking age of 21 or four percent, making the U.S. a minority. Believe it or not, the United States is not a unique country for alcohol policy. While the U.S. is known for its drinking age of 21, this strict limit of 21 is not the case for all states. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 withholds money from states that allow those under 21 to purchase alcohol. Before the law went into effect in 1984, each state had its own drinking age, which varied widely. When it comes to buying alcohol, the lowest age is 16, and this is the minimum age in many European countries, including Belgium, Spain and Austria. Some countries, such as Germany, have a legal age of 16 for beer and wine, but a higher minimum age of 18 for spirits or spirits. Other countries allow minors to drink at home under adult supervision, but not in public; Britain, for example, allows children from the age of five to drink at home, although they cannot buy alcohol until the age of 18.

Alcohol consumption varies considerably from country to country, as does the legal drinking age. In the United States, you must be at least 21 years of age or older to purchase or consume alcoholic beverages (with some exceptions in some jurisdictions). Surprisingly, this is one of the highest ages in the world to drink. To the north of the United States is Canada, which has a legal drinking age of 18 to 19, and the legal drinking age is much lower in many other countries. In fact, some countries don`t have a minimum drinking age (although there may be a minimum age to buy alcohol) – although the vast majority of these countries still have laws on the age you need to have to buy alcoholic beverages. Conversely, in some countries (usually under strict Muslim rule), alcohol consumption is completely prohibited. In the 1970s, provincial and state policymakers in Canada and the United States switched to lower MLDAs (set at 21 in most provinces, territories and states) to coincide with the age of judicial majority – usually 18. As a result, MLDAs have been reduced in all Canadian provinces [and] in more than half of U.S. states.

In Canada, however, two provinces, Ontario (1979) and Saskatchewan (1976), rapidly increased their subsequent AOMLs from ages 18 to 19 in response to some studies showing a link between lowering the drinking age and increasing alcohol-related harms among adolescents and young adults, including increases in motor vehicle crashes and alcohol poisoning among high school students.