Irish Still Hardest Drinking Europeans - Spending 3x The European Average on Drink

The Irish are known to be a hard drinking nation, and a recent study says that they continue to earn their reputation – and pay for it as well.

In Europe, the Irish are tops of a recent poll accounting what percentage of income European citizens are outlaying for alcohol. The Irish spend, on average, 4.1% of their income on drinking - which is a whopping 3 times the average of 1.2% of income. In a distant second place is Romania which spends 2.3%, and Lithuania at 2.2%.

Marion Rackard, of Alcohol Action Ireland, commented that, “Per capita, we are one of the highest consumers in Europe. For binge drinking, especially among young girls, we are the highest in Europe and our spending is the highest. Even though alcohol is no ordinary commodity, a proportion of drinkers consider it to be an essential in the weekly shopping basket and are prepared to spend accordingly on it.”

Irish spend an average of 35 Euros per week on alcohol.

Rackard says that with the increasing affluence of Irish people, drinking has been getting cheaper – explaining, “The government has continued to allow alcohol to be too affordable. The price of alcohol hasn’t gone up with inflation,”