Vietnamese men world’s top alcohol consumers

A standard drink contains 10 grams of alcohol.

Balkan countries and Portugal are the others that have the same level of consumption, according to the report, which uses data from 592 studies on the risk of alcohol use done between 1990 and 2016.

In contrast, Vietnamese women are among the smallest consumers of alcoholic drinks in the world with less than one standard drink a day, the report said.

While 40 to 59.9 percent of Vietnamese men drink alcohol, which is the global median, only 19.9 percent of women do so, it added.

Earlier this month the World Health Organization (WHO) said the high consumption of beer and alcohol in Vietnam was imposing a heavy burden on the country in the form of non-contagious diseases.

A Vietnamese adult above 15 years of age drinks 8.3 liters of pure alcohol per year on average, much higher than in China (7.2 liters), Cambodia (6.7), the Philippines (6.6) and Singapore (2), according to WHO.

The country spends $3.4 billion on alcohol each year, or 3 percent of the government’s revenues, according to official data.

The local market, which is growing steadily at 5 percent a year, is dominated by four strong companies, Sabeco, Habeco, Heineken, and Hue Brewery (owned by Carlsberg), which accounted for 90 percent of the beer market last year.