ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION Prost, as the Germans say. Rather often, it seems: they knocked back an average of 100 litres of alcoholic drinks each in 1998, according to Euromonitor. But that was down from 104 litres per person in 1994. Australians are almost as keen boozers as the Germans. Sheer volume drunk says nothing, of course, about alcoholic strength: hence vodka-quaffing Russia's apparently sober rating. Indeed, a shift in tastes from vodka to beer, together with a sharp rise in living standards, explains why Poles' consumption has increased by 32% since 1994. Egypt, which is mostly Moslem, is the driest country in our table. Egyptians sipped a mere half-litre of alcoholic drink each in 1998. But that was two and a half times what they drank in 1994.