The price of beer differs dramatically from place to place around the world. Factors like the cost of living, taxes on alcohol, and cultural attitudes towards drinking can all affect its cost.
While it might be expected that beer — or any alcohol, for that matter — would be pricier in countries where drinking is grudgingly accepted but discouraged (like Oman or the United Arab Emirates), it’s hardly cheap in beer-loving lands like France or the Scandinavian nations either.
Of course, some places are just generally expensive across the board, like Singapore and Hong Kong.
In many places around the world certain alcoholic beverages hold special significance and history. IPAs (India Pale Ale) were created by British colonialists using extra hops for long journeys between England and India. Light beer became popular in America when breweries made more of it to appeal to women while men were away fighting in World War 2. In many countries certain alcoholic drinks are relished and used to celebrate important events and welcome guests. These special drinks were often born out of a country’s unique resources and environment and can reflect its history and identity. Check out 35 signature drinks from around the world (they’re not all alcoholic, we promise).
Click here to see the most expensive countries to get a beer
24/7 Tempo relied on data obtained on August 23, 2021 from Numbeo, a crowd-sourced online database covering metrics related to cost of living, property prices, and quality of life in cities and countries worldwide. Numbeo shows the restaurant prices in USD of domestic beer (0.5 liter bottle) and imported beer (0.33 liter bottle) for 109 countries with sufficient numbers of contributors.
Population figures came from the World Bank and are for 2019, the latest year for which data was available.
Numbeo aggregates data for countries in real time. Data may be subject to change over relatively shorter periods of time compared to government data sets.
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25. Estonia
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $4.71
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $4.71
> Population: 1,326,898
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24. Greece
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $4.71
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $4.71
> Population: 10,721,582
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23. Belgium
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $4.71
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $4.12
> Population: 11,488,980
22. Canada
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $4.77
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $5.96
> Population: 37,593,384
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21. United States
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $5.00
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $6.00
> Population: 328,329,953
Source: coldsnowstorm / iStock via Getty Images
20. United Kingdom
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $5.18
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $5.53
> Population: 66,836,327
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19. Italy
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $5.30
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $4.71
> Population: 59,729,081
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Source: SolStock / iStock via Getty Images
18. Netherlands
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $5.30
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $4.71
> Population: 17,344,874
Source: Thurtell / iStock via Getty Images
17. Australia
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $5.85
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $6.58
> Population: 25,365,745
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Source: ViewApart / iStock via Getty Images
16. Ireland
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $5.88
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $5.88
> Population: 4,934,340
15. New Zealand
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $6.25
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $6.25
> Population: 4,979,300
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14. Singapore
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $6.63
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $7.73
> Population: 5,703,569
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13. Jordan
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $7.05
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $7.05
> Population: 10,101,697
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12. Finland
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $7.06
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $7.06
> Population: 5,521,606
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11. France
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $7.06
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $5.88
> Population: 67,248,926
10. Denmark
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $7.12
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $6.33
> Population: 5,814,422
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9. Switzerland
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $7.66
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $6.57
> Population: 8,575,280
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8. Hong Kong
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $7.71
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $6.42
> Population: 7,507,400
Source: Perboge / iStock via Getty Images
7. Sweden
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $7.96
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $7.50
> Population: 10,278,887
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6. Bahrain
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $7.96
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $9.95
> Population: 1,641,164
5. Israel
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $8.98
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $8.68
> Population: 9,054,000
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4. Iceland
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $9.52
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $7.93
> Population: 360,563
3. Norway
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $10.18
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $10.18
> Population: 5,347,896
Source: Diy13 / Getty Images
2. Oman
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $10.52
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $10.39
> Population: 4,974,992
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1. United Arab Emirates
> Avg price for domestic beer (16.9 oz. on draught): $10.89
> Avg price for imported beer (11.2 oz. bottle): $12.25
> Population: 9,770,526
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