According to the World Health Organization, Tajikistan, Russia and China are the top three consumers of alcohol in the world. Ireland, along with Germany, came in fourth place with 14.7 liters of pure alcohol consumption per drinker in a year. Tajikistan, the country with the world’s heaviest drinkers, consumed 30.3 liters of alcohol per drinker per year.

China, whose economic growth has created a thriving middle class with disposable income, has seen an increase in consumption from 2.5 liters of alcohol a year per capita in 1978 to 6.7 liters in 2010. As half of the Chinese population are teetotallers, this means that among those in China who do drink, the average person drinks 15.1 liters of pure alcohol each year, reports qz.com.

Drinkers in the UK consumed 13.8 liters of alcohol a year, while drinkers in the United States consumed 13.3 liters.

The medical journal The Lancet reports: “The social and health issues related to alcohol use and misuse, such as liver and cardiovascular diseases, mental disorders, cancers, violence, and transport and unintentional injuries, have been largely neglected.”