Standard drink


A standard drink or 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, but it always contains the same amount of alcohol and therefore produces the same amount of intoxication. 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, with what each country defines as the amount of pure alcohol in a standard drink ranging from 8 to 20 grams.
The sample questionnaire form for the World Health Organization's Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test uses, and this definition has been adopted by more countries than any other amount. Some countries choose to base the definition on mass of alcohol while others base the unit on the volume. For comparison, both measurements are shown here, as well as the number of standard drinks contained in of 5% ABV beer. The terminology for the unit also varies, as shown in the Notes column.
CountryMass
Volume
Ratio to
WHO AUDIT's
example
Is 10 gNotes
Albania1012.7
Argentina1417.7
Australia1012.7
Austria2025.3
Benin1417.7
Bosnia and Herzegovina1012.7
Canada13.6 or
13.45 or
13.5		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
  • glass of 12% wine.
Costa Rica810
Croatia1012.7
Denmark1215.2
Estonia1012.7
Fiji1012.7
Finland1215.2
France1012.7
Georgia1012.7
Germany1113.8Standardglas defined as containing 10–12 g
Guyana810
Hong Kong1012.7
Hungary1721.5
Iceland810áfengiseining defined as 8 g but treated as equivalent to 10 mL
Ireland1012.7
Italy1215.2unità standard defined as 12 g
Japan19.7525"unit".MHLW's conventional unit,
based on 1 gō of sake.
Japan1012.7"drink". Introduced by 2010 to align with the WHO AUDIT,
and to avoid the conventional "unit"
which gave a false impression of "minimum amount to drink".
Sometimes this amount is also called "unit", a term which traditionally meant 20 g.
Latvia1215.2
Luxembourg10–1212.7–15.2-
Malta810
Mexico10–1312.7–16.5-
Namibia1012.7
Netherlands1012.7
New Zealand1012.7
North Macedonia14.218
Norway12.815
Philippines1215.2
Poland1012.7
Portugal1113.810–12 g
Russia1012.7
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines1417.7
Seychelles810
Singapore1012.7
Slovenia1012.7
South Korea810
Spain1012.7
Sweden1215.2standardglas corresponds to 33 cl 5% beer, 13 cl wine, or a drink or shot based on 4 cl 40% liquor
Switzerland1215.2
Taiwan 1012.7
Thailand1012.71
Ukraine1012.7
United Kingdom810unit of alcohol defined as 10 mL but treated as equivalent to 8 g.
United States1417.7standard drink defined as pure ethanol, approximately 14 g
Uruguay1012.7

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:
For example, a 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, and therefore a mass of.
or
When the drink size is in fluid ounces, the following conversions can be used:
CountryVolume of fl. oz. Mass of fl. oz. of alcohol
UK28.4122.43
US29.5723.35

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 gives the alcohol content. In the UK, one unit of alcohol equals one percentage point per litre, of any alcoholic beverage.
The standard UK units of alcohol in a drink can be determined by multiplying the volume of the drink by its percentage ABV. For example, a standard bottle of wine at 12% ABV contains:
One UK standard measure of spirits at 40% ABV contains:
One imperial pint of beer at 4% ABV contains:
In the UK, both volume and ABV are usually given on bottles, drinks menus and so on, and so are easy to retrieve.

Beers

  • Half an imperial pint of beer with 3.5% ABV contains almost exactly one UK unit; however, most beers are stronger. In pubs in the United Kingdom, beers generally range from 3.5 to 5.5% ABV, and continental lagers start at around 4% ABV. An imperial pint of such lager contains almost 3 units of alcohol rather than the oft-quoted 2 units.
  • Stronger beer may contain 2 UK units or more per imperial half pint.
  • A half-litre of standard lager or ale contains 2.5 UK units.
  • One litre of typical Oktoberfest beer contains 5.5–6 UK units of alcohol.
  • A beer bottle is typically between, approximately 1.7 UK units at 5%.
  • can of light beer = 0.8 Australian standard drinks
  • can of mid-strength beer = 1 Australian standard drink
  • can of full strength beer = 1.4 Australian standard drinks
  • of 5% ABV beer = 1 US standard drink

    Wines

  • A "medium" glass, which contain 3 units. Red wines often have a higher alcohol content. Even though the sizes of wine glasses are defined in UK law, the terms large, medium, standard, etc. are not defined in law.
  • A bottle of 12% ABV wine contains 9 units; 16% ABV wine contains 12 units; a fortified wine such as port at 20% ABV contains 15 units.
  • glass of wine = 1 Australian standard drink
  • glass of wine = 1.5 Australian standard drinks
  • One glass of 12% ABV table wine is one US standard drink.

    Fortified wines

  • A small glass of sherry, fortified wine, or cream liqueur contains about one unit.

    Spirits

Most spirits sold in the United Kingdom have 35%-40% ABV. In England, a single pub measure of a spirit contains one unit. However, a larger measure is increasingly used, which contains 1.4 units of alcohol at 40% ABV. Sellers of spirits by the glass must state the capacity of their standard measure in ml.
In Australia, a shot of spirits is 0.95 standard drinks.
In the US, one shot of 80 proof liquor is, which is one US standard drink.