Worldwide consumption in 2005 was equal to litres of pure alcohol consumed per person aged 15 years or older. A large portion of this consumption – or litres per person – was homemade, illegally produced or sold outside normal government controls. However, despite widespread consumption, a higher percentage of people currently do not drink at all. Almost half of all men and two thirds of women have not consumed alcohol in the past year. Abstention rates are low in high-income, high- consumption countries, and higher in North African and South Asian countries with large Muslim populations. Female abstention.
