Legal Drinking Age By Country 2025

Legal Drinking Age

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Legal Drinking Age

1.	Eritrea	25
2.	United Arab Emirates	21
3.	Marshall Islands	21
4.	Micronesia	21
5.	Bahrain	21
6.	United States	21
7.	Sri Lanka	21
8.	Oman	21
9.	Lesotho	21
10.	Indonesia	21
11.	Nauru	21
12.	Iraq	21
13.	Kazakhstan	21
14.	Egypt	21
15.	Cameroon	21
16.	Mauritania	21
17.	Solomon Islands	21
18.	Cambodia	21
19.	India	21
20.	Palau	21
21.	Uzbekistan	20
22.	Benin	20
23.	Thailand	20
24.	Paraguay	20
25.	Iceland	20
26.	Japan	20
27.	Canada	19
28.	South Korea	19
29.	Qatar	19
30.	Saint Kitts and Nevis	18
31.	Sweden	18
32.	Papua New Guinea	18
33.	Lebanon	18
34.	Costa Rica	18
35.	United Kingdom	18
36.	Puerto Rico	18
37.	Serbia	18
38.	Kyrgyzstan	18
39.	Belize	18
40.	Ghana	18
41.	Malaysia	18
42.	Poland	18
43.	Gambia	18
44.	Australia	18
45.	Grenada	18
46.	Peru	18
47.	Jamaica	18
48.	Azerbaijan	18
49.	Sierra Leone	18
50.	North Korea	18
51.	Finland	18
52.	Slovenia	18
53.	Mauritius	18
54.	Belarus	18
55.	Hong Kong	18
56.	DR Congo	18
57.	Argentina	18
58.	New Zealand	18
59.	Namibia	18
60.	Mozambique	18
61.	North Macedonia	18
62.	Seychelles	18
63.	Norway	18
64.	Honduras	18
65.	Guatemala	18
66.	Kenya	18
67.	Uganda	18
68.	Philippines	18
69.	Syria	18
70.	Moldova	18
71.	Nigeria	18
72.	Madagascar	18
73.	Liberia	18
74.	Equatorial Guinea	18
75.	Portugal	18
76.	Comoros	18
77.	Botswana	18
78.	Rwanda	18
79.	Venezuela	18
80.	Ivory Coast	18
81.	Latvia	18
82.	Russia	18
83.	Myanmar	18
84.	Zimbabwe	18
85.	Ukraine	18
86.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	18
87.	Italy	18
88.	Uruguay	18
89.	Taiwan	18
90.	Zambia	18
91.	Romania	18
92.	Jordan	18
93.	Montenegro	18
94.	Malawi	18
95.	Eswatini	18
96.	Senegal	18
97.	Bolivia	18
98.	Tunisia	18
99.	Monaco	18
100.	Albania	18
101.	Brazil	18
102.	Guinea	18
103.	Nepal	18
104.	Estonia	18
105.	Trinidad and Tobago	18
106.	Colombia	18
107.	El Salvador	18
108.	Czech Republic	18
109.	Turkey	18
110.	Bahamas	18
111.	Ireland	18
112.	Chile	18
113.	Lithuania	18
114.	Mexico	18
115.	South Sudan	18
116.	Armenia	18
117.	Tajikistan	18
118.	Israel	18
119.	Singapore	18
120.	Algeria	18
121.	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	18
122.	France	18
123.	Greece	18
124.	Nicaragua	18
125.	Panama	18
126.	Angola	18
127.	Sao Tome and Principe	18
128.	Mongolia	18
129.	Republic of the Congo	18
130.	China	18
131.	Ecuador	18
132.	Turkmenistan	18
133.	Hungary	18
134.	Vietnam	18
135.	Dominican Republic	18
136.	Morocco	18
137.	Guyana	18
138.	Ethiopia	18
139.	Fiji	18
140.	Tanzania	18
141.	Bhutan	18
142.	Spain	18
143.	Croatia	18
144.	Gabon	18
145.	Bulgaria	18
146.	Netherlands	18
147.	Slovakia	18
148.	Cyprus	18
149.	Niger	18
150.	South Africa	18
151.	Bangladesh	18
152.	Malta	17
153.	Burundi	16
154.	Chad	16
155.	Suriname	16
156.	Barbados	16
157.	Haiti	16
158.	Cuba	16
159.	Georgia	16
160.	Denmark	16
161.	San Marino	16
162.	Luxembourg	16
163.	Germany	16
164.	Saint Lucia	16
165.	Austria	16
166.	Palestine	16
167.	Belgium	16
168.	Dominica	16
169.	Switzerland	16
170.	Central African Republic	15
171.	Mali	15

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Introduction
By Region
Table

Introduction

In a world where customs and laws vary widely, the legal drinking age stands as one of the most debated and diversified policy areas globally. The legal drinking age is the minimum age at which a person can legally consume alcoholic beverages. The age limit can differ dramatically from country to country and can have separate rules for consumption and purchase of alcohol.

The highest legal drinking age in the world is found in Eritrea – 25 years. This sets a top benchmark, showing extreme caution towards the potentially harmful effects of alcohol on individuals and their societies.
In contrast, the minimum legal drinking age is 15 years in the Central African Republic and Mali, pointing to a more lenient approach towards alcohol consumption.
The United States, along with 16 other countries, enforces a legal drinking age of 21, which is among the highest globally. Notably, this is driven by a nationwide effort to curtail drunk driving incidents among teens and young adults.
Most of the countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, and China, have set their legal drinking age at 18 years.
Countries like Denmark, Austria, Belgium, and Switzerland, reflect a more lenient approach towards alcohol consumption with a legal drinking age of 16.

By Region

Albania

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Value

Rank

Legal Drinking Age By Country

Table of Contents

Introduction

By Region

Albania

Algeria

Angola

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium

Belize

Benin

Bhutan

Bolivia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana

Brazil

Bulgaria

Burundi

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile

China

Colombia

Comoros

Costa Rica

Croatia

Cuba

Cyprus

Czech Republic

DR Congo

Denmark

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Estonia

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Fiji

Finland

France

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Greece

Grenada

Guatemala

Guinea

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Hong Kong

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Ivory Coast

Jamaica

Japan