National low-risk drinking recommendations (or drinking guidelines) and standard units

Examples of national low-risk drinking recommendations (or drinking guidelines if no low-risk recommendation is in place) and standard units

(based on RARHA 2016 and national nutrition recommendations or food-based dietary guidelines)

Country	Low-risk consumption	Alcohol content of a standard drink (in g)	Example of standard drink
Belgium	Men: up to 21 drinks per week women: up to 14 drinks per week	-	-
Bulgaria (pdf)	Men: up to 15-16 g of alcohol per day Women: up to 8 g of alcohol per day	-	0.5 l beer (4 % abv) or 150 ml wine (10-13 % abv) or 50 ml spirits (40 % ABV).
Czech Republic (pdf)	Men up to 24 g of alcohol per day Women up to 16 g of alcohol per day maximum 5 days a week	16 g – 18 g	600 ml beer (4 % abv;1 6 g alcohol); 200 ml wine (11 % abv; 17-18 g alcohol); 100 ml liquor (20 % abv; 18 g alcohol); 50 ml spirits (40 % abv; 16 g alcohol)
Denmark	Men and women: maximum 10 drinks per week No more than 4 drinks in one day Two alcohol-free days per week	12 g
Germany	Men: maximum 2 standard units per day Women:maximum 1 standard unit per day At least 2 alcohol-free days per week	10 g	One small glass of beer (250 ml), one glass of wine (100 ml), one shot (40 ml) spirits.
Estonia (pdf)	Men: up to 40 g of alcohol per day Women: up to 20g of alcohol per day At least 3 alcohol-free days	10 g	Half a pint of beer/stout/ale or a single measure of spirits or a small glass of wine
Ireland	Men: 17 standard drinks spread out over the week Women: 11 standard drinks spread out over the week. At least 2 alcohol free days	10 g	Example: a pub measure of spirits (35.5 ml); a small glass of wine (12.5% abv); a half pint of normal beer (ca. 280 ml); an alcopop (275 ml bottle).
Greece	Men: up to 2 glasses of wine or two drinks per day Women up to 1 glass of wine or one drink per day	8 g (10ml)	Example: 1 small (330 ml) beer, 4-5% vol; 1 glass (125 ml) wine, 11% vol; 1 glass (40 -45 ml) ouzo or other drink (i.e. whisky, gin, vodka, tequila), 40% vol.
Spain	Men: up to 20 g of alcohol per day Women: up to 10 g of alcohol per day	10 g	One small beer (250 ml – 5% abv), half glass of wine (125 ml – 10% abv) or half a mixed drink (a long drink containing 60 ml of spirits, such as a gin tonic, accounts for 2 standard units – 40% abv)
France	Not more than 10 standard drinks per week, never more than 2 standard drinks per day, and at least one alcohol-free day per week	10 g	One small glass (100 ml, 12 % abv) of wine, (250 ml, 5 % abv) of beer, or a small glass (25 ml, 40 % abv) of whiskey
Croatia	-	10 g	10 g ( CIPH 2013)
Italy	Men: up to 2 units per day Women: up to 1 unit per day	12 g	125 ml wine or a can (330 ml) of beer
Cyprus (pdf)	Men: up to 2 drinks per day; Women: up to 1 drink per day		125ml wine or 285 ml beer or 25 ml spirits
Latvia	Do not consume alcoholic beverages, as their consumption is harmful to your health.	12 g
Lithuania (pdf)	Avoid consuming alcoholic beverages	10 g
Luxembourg	Men: up to 2 drinks per day; Women up to 1 drink per day; 2 to 3 alcohol-free days per week	12 g	One small glass (250 ml) of beer, one glass (100 ml) of wine, one shot (30 - 40 ml) of spirits
Hungary	-	-	-
Malta (pdf)	18-21 years old: not more than 2 units per occasion, maximum twice a week. Over 21: Men up to 21 units per week; women up to 14 units per week. Men and women: spread over 5 to 6 days	8 g-10 g	Half a pint of beer or 1 wine glass or 1 tot of spirits
Netherlands	Drink no alcohol or at least not more than one glass per day, men and women (nutrition recommendations)	10 g
Austria	Men: up to 24 g of alcohol per day Women up to 16 g of alcohol per day Two alcohol-free days per week	20 g	0.5 l beer, 0.2 l wine, or 60 ml spirits
Poland	Up to 40 g of alcohol per day for men, up to 20 g for women, maximum 5 days per week.	10 g
Portugal	Up to 24 g alcohol per day for men, up to 16 g for women	10 g
Romania (pdf)	Drink in moderation; up to two drinks per day for men, up to one drink per day for women	12 g	500 ml beer, 150 ml wine, or 50 ml spirits
Slovenia	Up to 2 dl of wine or one bottle (5dl) of beer or 2 shots of spirits per day for men (not more than 14 units per week and not more than 5 units per occasion); up to 1 dL wine or half a bottle (2.5dl) of beer or one shot of spirits per day for women (not more than 7 units per week and not more than 3 units per occasion). At least 1-2 alcohol-free days per week.	10 g	1 dl wine or 2.5 dl beer or 0.3 dl spirits
Slovakia
Finland ( FNIHW 2016 (pdf), FFSA 2016)	On average no more than 2 standard drinks per day for men, 1 standard drink per day for women	12 g	33 cl medium strength beer or 12 cl mild wine or 4 cl spirits
Sweden	only risky consumption is defined, as more than 10 standard glasses per week or 4 standard glasses or more per drinking occasion once a month or more often. The limits apply to both men and women	12 g	1 standard glass corresponds to, e.g., 50 cl of folk beer, 33 cl of strong beer, 12–15 cl of wine or just under 4 cl of spirits
United Kingdom	14 units per week; spread over 3 or more days, and having some alcohol-free days	8 g	Half pint is equivalent to 0.8 units (2.8 % abv lager) or 1.4 units (4.8 % abv lager);
Iceland		12 g	300 mL of a drink with 5% abv
Norway	Up to 20 g of alcohol per day for men and 10 g for women. Should not exceed 5 % energy intake.	12 g, 15 g
Switzerland	Men 2-3 drinks per day; women 1-2 drinks per day. Two alcohol-free days per week	10-12 g	1 beer (0.3 l) or 1 glass wine (0.1 l) or 1 glass spirits (30 ml)

References to Meat

Meat ACS (2020), American Cancer Society, Guideline for Diet and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention De Smet and Vossen (2016), Meat Science 120 (2016)...

VISUALISATION | 17 Jun 2026

Deaths attributable to diets high in processed meat

Deaths per 100 000 attributable to diets high in processed meat in EU Member States (2023) Source: data are based on the Global Burden of Disease Study...

PAGE | 17 Jun 2026

Meat

Meat consists of the edible parts of an animal, and is a source of protein and micronutrients (e.g. iron, vitamins, choline). Meat can be an important component of a healthy diet. However...

Originally Published \| Last Updated	21 Nov 2020 \| 17 Oct 2024
Related organisation(s)	DG SANTE - DG for Health and Food Safety
Knowledge service \| Metadata	Health Promotion and Disease Prevention \| Risk factors of non-communicable diseases \| Alcoholic beverages
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Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Knowledge Gateway

National low-risk drinking recommendations (or drinking guidelines) and standard units

Examples of national low-risk drinking recommendations (or drinking guidelines if no low-risk recommendation is in place) and standard units

Country

Low-risk consumption

Alcohol content of a standard drink (in g)

Example of standard drink

References to Meat

Deaths attributable to diets high in processed meat

Meat