Wine, Spirits and Beer: World Patterns of Consumption

World patterns of the consumption of wine, spirits and beer can be obtained using data collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization [sic]. About half the world's consumption of absolute alcohol comes from spirits, one third from beer, the rest from wine. Spirits are the leading drink in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Central and Northern America and most of Asia; wine in southern Europe, parts of South America and Central Asia; beer in northern Europe, North America and Australasia. The production of grapes from which wine is made is climatically limited and consumption is high only in the regions of production, i.e. mainly areas of Mediterraneantype climate. Beer production is much more widely distributed, and only a very small amount is exported. Spirits, unlike beer and wine, can be made from a wide variety of plants, and so their consumption is not limited to areas of production. Income per capita, religion, migration and several other factors influence the relative importance of the beverages in different parts of the world.