Legal drinking age

Americas

In Central America, the Caribbean, and South America the legal drinking age and legal purchase age varies from 0 to 20 years (see table below). In South America in particular, the legal purchase age is 18 years, with two exceptions:

• In Paraguay, the legal drinking age and purchase age is 20 years.
• In Guyana, minors aged 16 or 17 may consume a glass of beer or wine in a restaurant provided they buy a meal.

In North America the legal drinking age and legal purchase age varies from 18 to 21 years:

• In Mexico, the drinking age is 18 in all states.
• In the United States, the minimum legal age to purchase alcoholic beverages is mainly 21 years of age; the two exceptions are Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands where the age is 18. The legal drinking age varies by state, and many states have no age requirements for supervised drinking with one's parents or legal guardians.
• In Canada, most provinces have a minimum age of 19 years to buy or consume alcohol, while in Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec, the minimum age is 18 years. Several provinces permit minors to consume alcohol if it was served to them by their parents/guardians, and it is consumed under their supervision in their home. For further information see Alcoholic drinks in Canada § Age.

In the late 20th century, much of North America changed its minimum legal drinking ages (MLDAs) as follows:

In the 1970s, provincial and state policy makers in Canada and the United States moved to lower MLDAs (which were set at 21 years in most provinces/territories and states) to coincide with the jurisdictional age of majority — typically 18 years of age.... As a result, MLDAs were reduced in all Canadian provinces [and] in more than half of US states. In Canada, however, two provinces, Ontario [in 1979] and Saskatchewan [in 1976], quickly raised their subsequent MLDAs from 18 to 19 years in response to a few studies demonstrating an association between the lowered drinking age and increases in alcohol-related harms to youth and young adults, including increases in motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and alcohol intoxication among high school students. Following MLDA reductions in the US, research in several states provided persuasive evidence of sharp increases in rates of fatal and nonfatal MVAs appearing immediately after the implementation of lower drinking ages. These scientific findings galvanized public pressure on lawmakers to raise MLDAs and, in response, the federal government introduced the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, which imposed a reduction of highway funds for states if they did not increase their MLDA to 21 years. All states complied and implemented an MLDA of 21 years by 1988.

United States

In the United States, the minimum legal age to purchase alcoholic beverages has mainly been 21 years of age since shortly after the passage of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984. The two exceptions are Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands where the age is 18. The legal drinking age varies by state, and many states have no age requirements for supervised drinking with one's parents or legal guardians.

Despite a rekindled national debate in 2008 on the established drinking age (initiated by several university presidents), a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll found in September 2008 that 76% of New Jerseyans supported leaving the legal drinking age at 21 years. No significant differences emerged when considering gender, political affiliation, or region. However, parents of younger children were more likely to support keeping the age at 21 (83%) than parents of college-age students (67%).

Seventeen states (Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Wyoming) and the District of Columbia have laws against possession of alcohol by minors, but they do not prohibit its consumption by minors.

Fourteen states (Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Wisconsin, and Virginia) specifically permit minors to drink alcohol given to them by their parents or by someone entrusted by their parents.

Many states also permit the drinking of alcohol under the age of 21 for religious or health reasons.

Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, has maintained a drinking age of 18.

United States customs laws stipulate that no person under the age of 21 may bring any type or quantity of alcohol into the country.

Asia

Europe

Most countries in Europe have set 18 as the minimum age to purchase alcohol. Although Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Switzerland (except Ticino) maintain a minimum purchase age below 18 years, minors are permitted either full or limited access to alcohol. In 2005, 2007 and 2015 harmonization at the European Union level toward a minimum purchase age of 18 was discussed, but not agreed.

Timeline of changes to drinking/purchase age or laws restricting the access to alcohol for minors:

• In 2002 the Spanish autonomous communities of Madrid, Valencia and Catalonia raised their minimum purchase age to 18 years. Previously, Valencia and Madrid had a minimum purchase age of 16 years, and in Catalonia minors aged 16 or 17 could purchase alcohol up to 23% ABV on- and off-premise.
• In 2004 Denmark raised its off-premise purchase age from 15 to 16 years.
• In November 2005 Switzerland passed its Food and Commodities Regulation (German: Lebensmittel- und Gebrauchsgegenständeverordnung), introducing a ban on alcohol sales to anyone under the age of 16. The Alcohol Law (German: Alkoholgesetz) passed in 1980 requires a minimum age of 18 years for the retail sale of distilled spirits. Therefore, it is prohibited to sell fermented alcohol (e.g. beer, wine, sparkling wine or cider) to anyone under the age of 16, and any distilled alcohol beverages to anyone under the age of 18 years. The canton of Ticino has a cantonal law since 1989 that makes the purchase age limit for all alcohol beverages 18 years.
• In 2006 the Spanish autonomous community Castile and León raised its minimum purchase age from 16 to 18 years.
• In late 2006, Gibraltar lawmakers passed the Children and Young Persons (Alcohol, Tobacco and Gaming) Act 2006, which raised the minimum purchase age from 16 to 18 years. But the new law made an exception: minors aged 16 or 17 can purchase and consume beer, wine or cider under 15% ABV on-premise, and pre-packed containers of an alcohol strength not exceeding 5.5% ABV (e.g. alcopops).
• In 2009 France raised its minimum purchase age to 18 years, and fines were increased for selling or serving alcohol to a minor (up to €7,500). Previously, the minimum age was 16 years for off-premise and on-premise purchases of low-alcohol beverages (up to 3% ABV) such as wine, beer, cider, perry, mead, crème de cassis and juices from fermented fruits or vegetables that contain 1.2 to 3° alcohol, natural sweet wines from controlled cultivation and 18 for higher-ABV beverages.
• In October 2009, the government of Malta passed a new law raising its drinking and purchase age from 16 to 17 years.
• In 2010 the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia raised its minimum purchase age from 16 to 18 years.
• In 2011 Denmark passed a law raising the minimum age for off-premise sale of alcohol beverages of >16.5% ABV to 18 years of age. The minimum age to purchase alcohol beverages of <16.5% ABV remains 16.
• In March 2012 Moldova raised the minimum purchase age to 18, from 16 previously.
• Italy raised its minimum purchase age from 16 to 18 in 2012. Previously Italy did not have a purchase age for off-premise sales, and the minimum age of 16 years for on-premise sales was not well enforced.
• As of 1 January 2014, the minimum legal purchase and consumption age was raised from 16 to 18 in the Netherlands. Previously young people over the age of 16 could purchase and consume alcohol beverages of <15% ABV, and those aged 18 and over could purchase all alcohol beverages.
• As of March 2015, the Spanish autonomous community of Asturias raised its drinking age from 16 to 18 years. Asturias was Spain's last community with a drinking age of 16 years. The new law brings the drinking age into line with the rest of Spain, with the exception of Balearic Islands where no purchase age limit is set.
• In 2013 the government of Portugal restricted alcohol sales to young people: distilled spirits cannot be sold to anyone under the age of 18, and other alcohol beverages (e.g. beer, wine, or cider) cannot be sold to anyone under the age of 16. Previously the minimum age for all alcohol beverages was 16 years. As of December 2015, Portugal harmonized its minimum drinking age to 18 years across all beverage types. Previously the purchase age was 16 years for low-alcohol beverages such as beer, wine or cider.
• As of 1 January 2018, Lithuania raised its minimum drinking age from 18 to 20 years.
• From January 2019 the federal states of Austria decided to align their drinking and purchase ages. The states Burgenland, Lower Austria and Vienna therefore raised their age limits for alcohol beverages containing spirits to 18. Prior to 2019 these states had a general drinking and purchase age of 16 years. The sale and consumption of beer, wine and other fermented alcohol beverages is now prohibited to children and young people under the age of 16 years, and the sale and consumption of spirits to minors under the age of 18 years is prohibited throughout Austria.

Oceania

Enforcement