India tops teetotal league

India leads the world in the number of people who never drink alcohol, according to a new report by independent research company Datamonitor. The survey of consumers in 15 countries found Brazil has the fewest number of people who abstain.

The study, which claims it shows the majority of drinkers “enjoy alcohol in a responsible and relaxing fashion”, also reveals that Italians say they pay the most attention to the amount of alcohol they drink, while Koreans pay the least heed to their boozing.

Datamonitor claims the survey means the media coverage of binge drinking in “some countries” distorts reality of consumption. However, in the UK, where binge drinking especially among young women has received a lot of coverage, only 19.3% of people say they pay a “high” or “very high” amount of attention to their drinking levels.

The UK also had the lowest number of total abstainers at 19.9% of people over the drinking age limit.