Standard drink explained

A standard drink or (in the UK) unit of alcohol is a measure of alcohol consumption representing a fixed amount of pure alcohol. The notion is used in relation to recommendations about alcohol consumption and its relative risks to health. It helps to inform alcohol users.

A hypothetical alcoholic beverage sized to one standard drink varies in volume depending on the alcohol concentration of the beverage (for example, a standard drink of spirits takes up much less space than a standard drink of beer), but it always contains the same amount of alcohol and therefore produces the same amount of intoxication.[1] Many government health guidelines specify low to high risk amounts in units of grams of pure alcohol per day, week, or single occasion. These government guidelines often illustrate these amounts as standard drinks of various beverages, with their serving sizes indicated. Although used for the same purpose, the definition of a standard drink varies very widely from country to country.

Labeling beverages with the equivalent number of standard drinks is common in some countries.

Definitions in various countries

The definition of what constitutes a standard drink varies very widely between countries,[2] with what each country defines as the amount of pure alcohol in a standard drink ranging from 8 to 20 grams (10 to 25 ml).

The sample questionnaire form for the World Health Organization's Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) uses 10g, and this definition has been adopted by more countries than any other amount.[3] Some countries choose to base the definition on mass of alcohol (in grams) while others base the unit on the volume (in ml or other volume units).[1] For comparison, both measurements are shown here, as well as the number of standard drinks contained in 5001NaN1 of 5% ABV beer (a typical large size of beer in Europe, slightly larger than a US pint of 473 mL). The terminology for the unit also varies, as shown in the Notes column.

Notes
Albania 10 12.7
Argentina 14 17.7
Australia[4] 10 12.7
Austria[5] 20 25.3
Benin 14 17.7
Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 12.7
Canada[6] [7] 13.6 or
13.45[8] or
13.5[9] 		17.2 or 17 or This specific unit is computed based on the oz definition as:
  • bottle of 5% alcohol beer, cider or cooler
  • shot of 40% hard liquor (vodka, rum, whisky, gin etc.)
  • glass of 12% wine.[10]
Costa Rica 8 10
Croatia 10 12.7
Denmark 12 15.2
Estonia 10 12.7
Fiji 10 12.7
Finland[11] 12 15.2
France 10 12.7
Georgia 10 12.7
Germany[12] 11 13.8 Standardglas defined as containing 10–12 g (central value used here)
Guyana 8 10
Hong Kong[13] 10 12.7
Hungary 17 21.5
Iceland[14] 8 10 áfengiseining defined as 8 g but treated as equivalent to 10 mL
Ireland[15] 10 12.7
Italy 12 15.2 unità standard defined as 12 g
Japan[16] [17] 19.75 25 "".
MHLW's conventional unit,
based on 1 gō (unit) (mL) of sake.
Japan1012.7"". Introduced by 2010[18] to align with the WHO AUDIT,
and to avoid the conventional "" (20 g)
which gave a false impression of "minimum amount to drink".[19] [20]
Sometimes this amount (around 10 g) is also called "",[21] a term which traditionally meant 20 g.
Latvia 12 15.2
Luxembourg 10–12 12.7–15.2 -
Malta 8 10
Mexico 10–13 12.7–16.5 -
Namibia 10 12.7
Netherlands 10 12.7
New Zealand[22] [23] 10 12.7
North Macedonia 14.2 18
Norway 12.8 15
Philippines 12 15.2
Poland 10 12.7
Portugal 11 13.8 10–12 g (central value used here)
Russia 10 12.7
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 14 17.7
Seychelles 8 10
Singapore 10 12.7
Slovenia 10 12.7
South Korea 8 10
Spain 10 12.7
Sweden 12 15.2 standardglas corresponds to 33 cl 5% beer, 13 cl wine, or a drink or shot based on 4 cl 40% liquor[24]
Switzerland 12 15.2
Taiwan (ROC) 10 12.7
Thailand[25] 1012.71
Ukraine 10 12.7
United Kingdom[26] [27] 8 10 unit of alcohol defined as 10 mL but treated as equivalent to 8 g.[28]
United States[29] 14 17.7 standard drink defined as pure ethanol, approximately 14 g
Uruguay 10 12.7

Calculation of pure alcohol by mass

It is possible to calculate the pure alcohol mass in a serving from the concentration, density of alcohol, and volume:\text \times \text \times \text = \text

For example, a 355ml glass of beer with an ABV of 5.5% contains 19.525 ml of pure alcohol, which has a density of 0.78945 g/mL (at 20 °C), and therefore a mass of 15.41g.355\,\mathrm \times 0.055 \times 0.78945\,\mathrm/\mathrm \approx 15.41\,\mathrmor0.355\,\mathrm \times 0.055 \times 789.45\,\mathrm/\mathrm \approx 15.41\,\mathrm

When the drink size is in fluid ounces (which differ between the UK and the US), the following conversions can be used:

Country Volume of fl. oz. (mL) Mass of fl. oz. of alcohol (g)
UK 28.41 22.43
US 29.57 23.35

One should bear in mind that a pint in the UK is 20 imperial fluid ounces, whereas a pint in the US is 16 US fluid ounces, and that 1 imperial fl. oz. ≈ US fl. oz.: this means that 1 imperial pint ≈ US pints.

Calculation of units of alcohol by volume

Calculating alcoholic content in countries that use units of alcohol is straightforward, as the volume multiplied by the Alcohol by volume (ABV) gives the alcohol content. In the UK, one unit of alcohol equals one percentage point per litre, of any alcoholic beverage.

\text \times \text = \text

The standard UK units of alcohol in a drink can be determined by multiplying the volume of the drink (expressed in litres) by its percentage ABV. For example, a standard 750ml bottle of wine at 12% ABV contains:

\begin{align} 0.75L x 12\%&=9units \end{align}

One UK standard measure of spirits (25ml, 0.025 L) at 40% ABV contains:

\begin{align} 0.025L x 40\%&=1unit \end{align}

One imperial pint (568ml, 0.568 L) of beer at 4% ABV contains:

\begin{align} 0.568L x 4\%&=2.27units \end{align}

In the UK, both volume and ABV are usually given on bottles, drinks menus and so on, and so are easy to retrieve.

Reference standard drinks

A standard drink is often different from a normal serving in the country in which it is served.[30] For example, in the United States, a standard drink is defined as 0.6USfloz of ethanol per serving, which is about 14 grams of alcohol.[31] [32] [33] This corresponds to a 12USoz can of 5% beer, a 5USoz glass of 12% ABV (alcohol by volume) wine, or a 1.5USoz so-called "shot" of spirit,[31] assuming that beer is 5% ABV, wine is 12% ABV, and spirits is 40% ABV (80 proof). Most wine today is higher than 12% ABV (the average ABV in Napa Valley in 1971 was 12.5%[34]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Health Promotion Knowledge Gateway. 20 June 2017 .
  2. Lack of international consensus in low-risk drinking guidelines. 10.1111/j.1465-3362.2012.00475.x. 2013. Furtwaengler. Nina A. F. F.. De Visser. Richard O.. Drug and Alcohol Review. 32. 1. 11–18. 22672631. subscription.
  3. Governmental standard drink definitions and low-risk alcohol consumption guidelines in 37 countries . Addiction. 111. 7. 1293–8. 13 April 2016. 10.1111/add.13341. 27073140. Kalinowski. A.. Humphreys. K.. free.
  4. Population Health Division, Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing The Australian Standard Drink
  5. Web site: Drinking Guidelines: General Population. IARD.org. International Alliance for Responsible Drinking. 9 April 2023.
  6. Canadian Public Health Association. URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20160305015945/http://icap.org/portals/0/download/all_pdfs/icap_reports_english/report5.pdf. 2006.
  7. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health / Centre de toxicomanie et de santé mentale Low-Risk Drinking Guidelines
  8. Web site: Alcohol use. Health. Canada. 17 May 2013. www.canada.ca.
  9. Web site: UVic study suggests setting minimum alcohol price could reduce deaths, hospital visits. https://web.archive.org/web/20201031062658/https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/uvic-study-suggests-setting-minimum-alcohol-price-could-reduce-deaths-hospital-visits-1.5166558. dead. 31 October 2020. 29 October 2020. Vancouver Island.
  10. Web site: Rethink Your Drinking | What's a Standard Drink? . https://web.archive.org/web/20190808082758/https://www.rethinkyourdrinking.ca/what-is-a-standard-drink/ . 8 August 2019.
  11. paihdelinkki.fi, How to use alcohol wisely
  12. Web site: Was ist ein Standardglas? . What is a standard drink? . Alkohol? Kenn dein Limit. . . DE . 26 September 2017.
  13. Department of Health Alcohol and Health: Hong Kong Situation
  14. Web site: Landlæknisembættið, Icelandic Directorate of Health. 25 September 2017. 10 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220710211150/https://www.landlaeknir.is/servlet/file/store93/item2535/3370.pdf. dead.
  15. Book: Hope. A.. A Standard Drink in Ireland: What strength?. 2009. Health Service Executive. 2 February 2015.
  16. Web site: AUDIT The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (Second Edition). 2001. WHO. pdf. 2 January 2020.
  17. Web site: AUDIT The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (Second Edition). WHO. 17. ja. ja:AUDIT アルコール使用障害特定テスト使用マニュアル. pdf. 2 January 2020.
  18. Web site: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/topics/tobacco/houkoku/dl/100222j.pdf . Okazaki . Naoto . 16 March 2010 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20130122091310/http://www.mhlw.go.jp/topics/tobacco/houkoku/dl/100222j.pdf . 22 January 2013 . 23 July 2025 . . ja:多量飲酒者へのAUDITを用いた介入 . 7 . ja . ja:飲酏量の単位を「ドリンク」と言う。（「単位」と訳した版あり）「純アルコール10gを含むアルコール飲料」＝「1ドリンク」 . The unit of consumption is "dorinku" (sometimes translated as "tan'i"). An alcoholic beverage which contains 10 g of pure alcohol = 1 dorinku..
    • Referring web page: Web site: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/topics/tobacco/houkoku/100222.html . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20100617075658/https://www.mhlw.go.jp/topics/tobacco/houkoku/100222.html . 17 June 2010 . 23 July 2025 . . ja:平成21年度たばこ・アルコール対策担当者講習会 . Fiscal year 2009 Seminar for tobacco and alcohol control . ja . ja:日時 平成２２年２月２２日（月） . Date of seminar: 22 February 2010.
  19. Web site: 飲酒量の単位 . Higuchi . Susumu .

    ja:樋口進 (医師)

    . ja:飲酒量の単位 . Units of alcoholic drink . 18 July 2025 . . ja . https://web.archive.org/web/20201102012954/https://www.e-healthnet.mhlw.go.jp/information/alcohol/a-02-001.html . 2 November 2020 . live.
  20. Web site: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Chubu District Transport Bureau . Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism . 1 October 2020 . ja:飲酒運転防止②～アルコールは「単位」から「ドリンク」へ～ . https://wwwtb.mlit.go.jp/chubu/gian/hoan/mission1st-202110.pdf . 10 . 19 July 2025 . ja . https://warp.da.ndl.go.jp/collections/content/info:ndljp/pid/14360016/wwwtb.mlit.go.jp/chubu/gian/hoan/mission1st-202110.pdf . 2 May 2025 . live.
  21. Web site: MHLW . MHLW . ja:アルコール指導のポイント Core-AUDITの章 . tips on alcohol use control consultation – Core-AUDIT . https://www.niph.go.jp/soshiki/jinzai/koroshoshiryo/tokutei23/keikaku/program/K4-4.pdf . 5 October 2011 . 2 January 2020 . . 48 . ja . https://web.archive.org/web/20241216213021/https://www.niph.go.jp/soshiki/jinzai/koroshoshiryo/tokutei23/keikaku/program/K4-4.pdf . 16 December 2024 . live . ja:1単位=純アルコール9～12g . 1 tan'i = 9–12g of pure alcohol.
  22. http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/consumers/food-safety-topics/food-processing-labelling/food-labelling/fact-sheets/fs-2003-04-alcohol-labelling.htm New Zealand Food Safety Authority
  23. Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand (ALAC) What's in a Standard Drink
  24. Web site: Vad är ett standardglas alkohol? | alkoholhjälpen.se. alkoholhjalpen.se.
  25. Web site: วิธีเลิกเหล้าด้วยตนเอง . 25 March 2025 . www.siphhospital.com . en.
  26. PRODIGY Knowledge (Department of Health) Alcohol and Sensible Drinking
  27. Web site: How long does alcohol stay in your blood? . 11 February 2015 . NHS Choices.
  28. Web site: What is an alcohol unit? | Drinkaware .
  29. Web site: Alcohol and Public Health: Frequently Asked Questions . CDC . 17 October 2011 .
  30. Web site: Mongan . Deirdre . Long . Jean . 22 May 2015 . Standard drink measures throughout Europe; peoples' understanding of standard drinks and their use in drinking guidelines, alcohol surveys and labelling . 26 September 2017 . Reducing Alcohol Related Harm . 8.
  31. Web site: What's a Standard Drink Measurement? . Rethinking Drinking . NIAAA . 28 June 2024.
  32. 14 grams of alcohol is 0.6 US fluid ounces or ~18 mL. → Ethanol listed as 0.78945 g/mL @ 20°C (68°F), 0.6 US fl oz × 29.57 mL/US fl oz = 17.742 ml; 0.78945 g/mL × 17.742 mL = 14.006g
  33. Haynes, William M., ed. (2011). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (92nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. p. 3.246. ISBN 1-4398-5511-0.
  34. Web site: Alcohol: the Devil is in the Details .

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