According to a recent study, people in the Netherlands like to enjoy an alcoholic beverage pretty regularly, drinking an average of 112 days out of the year. Only the French and New Zealanders drink more regularly. 

2021 Global Drug Survey Report

This year’s edition of the Global Drug Survey (GDS) Report is based on data collected between December 2020 and March 2021 from over 32.000 participants, and once again delves into the drinking habits of people across 20 countries around the world. 

Compared to last year, GDS2021 observed a drop in consumption across almost all drug classes, including alcohol, but notes that this could be due to the older average age of the participants of the 2021 survey. 

Around the world, adults were found to drink alcohol on an average of 101 days out of the year.

The Netherlands home to some of the world's most regular drinkers

GDS2021 asked respondents to give an approximation of the number of days out of the year where they drink alcohol. The study found that, here in the Netherlands, people reported drinking alcohol an average of 112 out of 365 days. Men appear to drink more regularly than women, drinking around 121 days a year compared to womens’ 102 days.

Out of these days, people in the Netherlands only report feeling drunk - which is defined by the report as “‘having drunk so much that your physical and mental faculties are impaired to the point where your balance / speech was affected, you were unable to focus clearly on things and that your conversation and behaviours were very obviously different to people who know you” - on 15,7 days. 

While overall 112 may not sound like too high a figure, GDS2021 reports that the Netherlands is home to the third most-regularly drinkers in the world, coming behind France and New Zealand.

Drinking habits around the world

According to GDS2021, the countries home to the most frequent drinkers are:

1. France - 132 days
2. New Zealand - 120 days
3. The Netherlands - 112 days
4. Hungary - 109 days 
5. UK - 107 days 
6. Austria - 107 Days
7. Australia - 106 days 
8. Switzerland - 101 days
9. Germany - 100 days 
10. USA - 83 days

For more information about the study, visit the GDS website.