People 16 and 17 can drink in public venues if they are accompanied by a parent or guardian. For example, in 30 states, you can tend bar if you are 18, in four states at nineteen, in one state at twenty, and 15 states at 21. The minimum age for the servers bringing the drinks to the table may differ from those behind the bar. Plus, in North Carolina, you can pour beer and wine at eighteen, but not liquor until you are 21. As you can see, it quickly gets confusing when it comes to the minimum legal age and liquor.

Public Drinking, and Buying or Selling

Conversely, in a few nations (typically under strict Muslim rule), drinking is outlawed entirely. The Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) is the minimum age at which a person is legally allowed to handle or consume alcoholic drinks. The laws on MLDA cover a wide range of issues including when and where alcohol can be consumed and vary from country to country.

1. In 2019, the Ethiopian parliament passed a bill that bans a specific category of alcohol advertising in the media and also increases the age limit for purchasing alcohol from 18 to 21 years of age.
2. Alcoholic beverages available in vending machines pose a challenge with controlling underage drinking.
3. This is different than much of the rest of the world staying at home this year.
4. According to the Australian government’s Smart Traveller website, “The legal drinking age in Abu Dhabi is 18 years.

However, the age raises to 18 when purchasing “spirits” (a.k.a. hard liquor), but 16-year-olds can buy beer or wine. It’s estimated that globally, around 1 percent of the population has an alcohol use disorder. At the country level, as shown in the chart, this ranges from around 0.5 to 5 percent drinking age map of the population. We see that the proportion of deaths attributed to alcohol consumption is lower in North Africa and the Middle East and much higher in Eastern Europe. The chart shows alcohol consumption since 1890 in a number of countries.

On the contrary, selling alcohol to persons under the age of 18 years is prohibited by federal and regional laws and may attract fines and even jail terms. The MLDA laws for Florida, Wisconsin, California, and Illinois are summarized in Table 1, and additional tidbits are provided for each. You will find people stating they got carded for the first time in 20 years while visiting a theme park on many travel sites. Wisconsin has experienced issues with underage binge drinking on college campuses. In 2017, a state lawmaker tried to push a bill that would drop the drinking age to nineteen in an attempt to curb binge drinking.

Alcohol, crime, and road deaths

So, some states have exemptions for those in an educational setting to allow students to study without breaking the law. The enactment of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 forced states to raise their legal age for purchase or public possession of alcohol to 21 or risk losing millions in federal highway funds. California (1933) and Oregon (1933) have the nation’s oldest MLDA 21 laws, while South Dakota (Apr. 1, 1988) and Wyoming (July 1, 1988) have the most recent MLDA 21 laws. It would put an end to the perverse culture of secretiveness and abuse that has grown up around underage drinking. It would allow bars and restaurants to become ‘safe spaces’ for college-age students to drink and Uber home if they need to. Proponents will undoubtedly also emphasize the revenue gains for the state that would come from legalization.

You can also drink alcoholic beverages on the high-speed Shinkansen trains and other public spaces. The most common drinking age around the world may be a bit surprising as it is “none.” Almost half, or 83 out of the 178 countries (47%) on our list do not have any sort of minimum drinking age requirement. However, many of these countries do have a minimum purchase age varying from 14 to 20 years old. In these countries, minors can have a drink in the comfort of their own home at any age, but in public they are restricted. Many of these countries have age specifications on the ABV, or alcohol by volume, as well as the type of alcohol being consumed. For example, in Belgium, beers, wines, and ciders can be purchased at age 16, but spirits are only to be purchased by those over 18 years old.

The countries where drinking is banned until 25 – or allowed at 13

There are also some laws in place to protect underage drinkers from prosecution when they are reporting or requesting medical aid for another minor. There are currently seventeen states with exemptions related to underage alcohol consumption when seeking medical aid for another underage individual. You can be charged with “Internal Possession,” which refers to alcohol inside your body in some states. You may be charged with this as a result of a blood, urine, or breath test. In some states, for merely “showing signs of intoxication” even if you are found with no alcohol in your system and were not seen consuming it. If your state has internal possession laws, those under 21 must be very careful where alcohol is concerned.

Global wine consumption

Typically, U.S. law enforcement – or police from any country – leave you alone if you’re inside Jamaica and are at least 18 when drinking. However, you could possibly end up in trouble if still intoxicated when coming back into the U.S. or wherever home is to you if not allowed to drink when not yet 18. If you are traveling or studying in Italy, you might need to know what the drinking age is there.