FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Munchies

Researchers Worked Out Which Country Pre-Drinks the Most

According to data from the Global Drugs Survey, 85 percent of respondents here said they pre-game before a night out.

Pre-drinking, pre-gaming, pre-loading—whatever you want to call it, we all do it. A few warm bus tinnies on the way into town. Vinegary Merlot poured into mugs to get you in the mood for a "big night out." A hastily mixed bottle of rum and Coke swigged en-route to a house party.

And now, scientists have spent valuable time and money to answer the burning question: which country loves pre-drinking the most?

Would it be the beer-swilling Germans? The French with their vin rouge? Buckfast-happy Scots?

Out of the 25 countries and 65,126 people studied using data from the Global Drugs Survey, researchers from universities around the world have crowned Ireland top of the table for drinking before a night out. The results, which were published last week in the Drug and Alcohol Review journal, found that 85.4 percent of the 1,883 Irish survey respondents said they drank alcohol in a private setting before heading out.

A close second was Norway, with 80 percent admitting to pre-gaming. New Zealand and Denmark clocked in at 78.7 percent and 76.2 percent respectively, and the UK clinched fifth place with three-quarters of those surveyed saying they pre-drank. At the other end of the boozy spectrum, the survey found that Greece had the lowest amount of pre-drinkers—just 17.7 percent said they hit the bottle before heading out.

Read more on MUNCHIES.