DESPITE what people say, Britain ISN'T the booziest nation.
The UK ranks 24th in a list of the world's biggest drinkers, compiled by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
We knock back an average of 9.8 litres of pure alcohol per person every year - equivalent to more than 100 pints of lager or glasses of wine.
But those in the Cook Islands, who came out top, consume 28 per cent more, at 12.97 litres.
Latvia finished in second place with 12.9, while the Czech Republic nabbed bronze with 12.73.
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Rounding out the top five were Lithuania (11.93) and Austria (11.9).
Beer-loving Germany came in 19th place (10.56), and the United States ranked 35th (8.9).
And bottom, with zero litres annually, were Bangladesh, Kuwait, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia and Somalia.
The data was collected as part of the CIA's World Factbook, which provides information on 266 countries, in 2019.
The NHS recommends people drink no more than 14 units per week, spread across three days or more.
This works out at around six medium (175ml) glasses of wine, or six pints of four per cent beer.
In terms of pure alcohol, that's about 300 litres - well above the average for any nation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 2.3billion people around the world are considered "current drinkers", meaning they guzzle booze on a regular basis.
More than five per cent of all deaths globally are as a result of harmful alcohol use, experts say.
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