The Irish spend the most money on beer in the world per person, according to a new survey of the analyst company, Datamonitor. Last year, each Irishman spent EUR 1.199 thousand on beer, about three euros per day, while each Norwegian spent the equivalent of EUR 614 per person, and the British came in third at EUR 502 per person.

The Norwegian figure, however, has to do with the fact that Norway's beer was the most expensive in the world at almost 5.20 EUR per pint, with Malaysia and Japan coming in second and third. So have the Irish and British figures, because counting in pints, it turns out that the Czechs drank the most beer (326 pints per person and year), while Irish drinkers only put down 300 pints per person and year. Germany, Austria, and Belgium were the other three to beat the British at consuming what is largely considered to be one of the two British national beverages.

Hardly surprising, the United States is the world's biggest market for beer counted in money, with sales at USD 46.8bn last year.

18 March, 2003