International Minimum Ages for Sales of Alcohol

Below find the legal minimum age for alcohol sales in 173 countries as found by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The sales are split between on-premise sales such as in restaurants, bars, and hotels where the alcohol will be consumed at the place of purchase and off-premise sales such as in grocery or liquor stores where the alcohol will be consumed in another location. However, the legal minimum ages are often the same for both on-premise and off-premise purchases.

The minimum ages are also split for the purchase of beer, wine, and spirits. But, again, the minimum ages are frequently the same. In the countries where the purchase of one or more of the alcohol types has a different minimum age for purchase, that age will be noted with a * and note indicating the difference(s) in the far right column.

Country	National legal minimum age for off-premise sales of alcoholic beverages (beer / wine / spirits)	National legal minimum age for on-premise sales of alcoholic beverages (beer / wine / spirits)	Notes
Afghanistan	Total ban	Total ban
Albania	18	18
Algeria	18	18
Andorra	18	18
Angola	18	18
Antigua and Barbuda	No minimum age	16
Argentina	18	18
Armenia	18	18
Australia	18	18
Austria	Minimum age determined at subnational level	Minimum age determined at subnational level
Azerbaijan	18	18
Bahamas	18	18
Bahrain	No information	No information
Bangladesh	No minimum age	No minimum age
Barbados	No minimum age	16
Belarus	18	18
Belgium	16*	16*	*Belgium has a national legal minimum age of 18 for on- or off-premise sales of alcoholic beverages for spirits.
Belize	18	18
Benin	No minimum age	No minimum age
Bhutan	18	18
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	No information	No information
Bosnia and Herzegovina	18	18
Botswana	18	18
Brazil	18	18
Brunei Darussalam	No information	No information
Bulgaria	18	18
Burkina Faso	No minimum age	13
Burundi	18	18
Cabo Verde	18	18
Cambodia	No minimum age	No minimum age
Cameroon	18	21
Canada	Minimum age determined at subnational level	Minimum age determined at subnational level
Central African Republic	No minimum age	No minimum age
Chad	16	16
Chile	18	18
China	No minimum age	No minimum age
Colombia	18	18
Comoros	No information	No information
Congo	18	18
Cook Islands	18	18
Costa Rica	18	18
Côte d’Ivoire	18*	14	*Côte d’Ivoire does not have a national legal minimum age for off-premise sales of alcoholic beverages for beer.
Croatia	18	18
Cuba	18	18
Cyprus	17	17
Czechia	18	18
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea	No information	No information
Democratic Republic of the Congo	18	18
Denmark	16*	18	*Denmark has a national legal minimum age of 18 for off-premise sales of alcoholic beverages for spirits.
Djibouti	No minimum age	No minimum age
Dominica	16	16
Dominican Republic	18	18
Ecuador	18	18
Egypt	21	21
El Salvador	18	18
Equatorial Guinea	18	18
Eritrea	25	25
Estonia	18	18
Eswatini	18	18
Ethiopia	18	18
Fiji	No information	No information
Finland	18*	18	*Finland has a national legal minimum age of 20 for off-premise sales of alcoholic beverages for spirits.
France	18	18
Gabon	No minimum age	18
Gambia	18	18
Georgia	18	18
Germany	16*	16*	*Germany has a national legal minimum age of 18 for on- or off-premise sales of alcoholic beverages for spirits.
Ghana	18	18
Greece	18	18
Grenada	No minimum age	16
Guatemala	18	18
Guinea	No minimum age	No minimum age
Guinea-Bissau	No minimum age	No minimum age
Guyana	18	18
Haiti	No information	No information
Honduras	18	18
Hungary	18	18
Iceland	20	20
India	Minimum age determined at subnational level	Minimum age determined at subnational level
Indonesia	21	21
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	Total ban	Total ban
Iraq	21	21
Ireland	18	18
Israel	18	18
Italy	18	18
Jamaica	18	18
Japan	20	20
Jordan	18	18
Kazakhstan	21	21
Kenya	18	18
Kiribati	21	21
Kuwait	No information	No information
Kyrgyzstan	No information	No information
Lao People’s Democratic Republic	18	18
Latvia	18	18
Lebanon	18	18
Lesotho	21	21
Liberia	18	18
Libya	Total ban	Total ban
Lithuania	18	18
Luxembourg	16	16
Madagascar	18	18
Malawi	18	18
Malaysia	21	21
Maldives	Total ban	Total ban
Mali	15*	15*	*Mali does not have a national legal minimum age for on- or off-premise sales of alcoholic beverages for spirits.
Malta	17	17
Marshall Islands	21	21
Mauritania	Total ban	Total ban
Mauritius	18	18
Mexico	18	18
Micronesia (Federated States of)	No information	No information
Monaco	18	18
Mongolia	21	21
Montenegro	18	18
Morocco	16	16
Mozambique	18	18
Myanmar	18	18
Namibia	18	18
Nauru	No information	No information
Nepal	No information	No information
Netherlands	18	18
New Zealand	18	18
Nicaragua	18	18
Niger	18	18
Nigeria	No minimum age	No minimum age
Niue	No information	No information
Norway	18*	18*	*Norway has a national legal minimum age of 20 for on- or off-premise sales of alcoholic beverages for spirits.
Oman	21	21
Pakistan	Total ban	Total ban
Palau	No information	No information
Panama	18	18
Papua New Guinea	No information	No information
Paraguay	20	20
Peru	18	18
Philippines	18	18
Poland	18	18
Portugal	18	18
Qatar	No information	No information
Republic of Korea	19	19
Republic of Moldova	18	18
Romania	18	18
Russian Federation	18	18
Rwanda	18	18
Saint Kitts and Nevis	18	18
Saint Lucia	16	16
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	18	18
Samoa	21	21
San Marino	16	16
Sao Tome and Principe	18	18
Saudi Arabia	Total ban	Total ban
Senegal	18	18
Serbia	18	18
Seychelles	18	18
Sierra Leone	18	18
Singapore	18	18
Slovakia	18	18
Slovenia	18	18
Solomon Islands	No information	No information
Somalia	Total ban	Total ban
South Africa	18	18
South Sudan	18	18
Spain	18	18
Sri Lanka	21	21
Sudan	Total ban	Total ban
Suriname	16	16
Sweden	18*	18	*Sweden has a national legal minimum age of 20 for off-premise sales of alcoholic beverages for wine and spirits.
Switzerland	16*	16*	*Switzerland has a national legal minimum age of 18 for on- or off-premise sales of alcoholic beverages for spirits.
Syrian Arab Republic	18	18
Tajikistan	18	18
Thailand	20	20
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	18	18
Timor-Leste	No minimum age	No minimum age
Togo	No minimum age	18
Tonga	No information	No information
Trinidad and Tobago	18	18
Tunisia	No information	No information
Turkey	18	18
Turkmenistan	18	18
Tuvalu	No information	No information
Uganda	18	18
Ukraine	18	18
United Arab Emirates	No information	No information
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	18	18
United Republic of Tanzania	18	18
United States of America	21	21
Uruguay	18	18
Uzbekistan	20	20
Vanuatu	No minimum age	No minimum age
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	18	18
Viet Nam	18	18
Yemen	Total ban	Total ban
Zambia	18	18
Zimbabwe	18	18

Source: World Health Organization (WHO), “Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2018,” who.int, Sep. 27, 2018

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