Pic: Here’s where Ireland ranks in terms of the highest drinkers in Europe and the world

Who fancies a weekend in Tajikistan?

One of the many cliches that Irish people hear when they meet someone from abroad is just how much we all love a drink. While this is true, we're not the worst country in Europe when it comes to having a few bevvies. The WHO, that's the World Health Organisation and not the brilliant Roger Daltrey led band, has released information from a recent study examining the drinking patterns of every country in the world and it's very interesting. Apparently, Irish people drink an average of 14.7 litres of pure alcohol in a calendar year, and the most popular tipple of choice won't surprise anyone. Of those studied, 48.1% said that they prefer beer, 26.1% are wine drinker, 18.7% are on the harder stuff ordering spirits while 7.7% are in the 'other' category. Here's the graph. While 18.7 may appear high, this figure pales in comparison to Tajikistan, which despite being in Asia was included on this graph for some reason. They knock back a healthy 30.3 liters of pure alcohol. A great bunch of lads. Ireland actually falls behind all of the following in terms of alcohol consumption. Andorra, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland,  Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakihstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Moldova,Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Tajikstan, Turkey and Ukraine. There's always someone worse. Take a look. If that's too many grids, numbers and percentages then here's a colour coded map that shows how Ireland compares with other European countries and with the world at large. After learning that we're not number one, there's only one way that we can celebrate/drown our sorrows.   Hat-tip to i100.