The legal drinking age is the minimum age at which a person can legally consume alcoholic beverages. The minimum age alcohol can be legally consumed can be different from the age when it can be purchased in some countries. These laws vary between countries and many laws have exemptions or special circumstances, up to no laws about consumption at all. Most laws apply only to drinking alcohol in public places with alcohol consumption in the home being mostly unregulated (one of the exceptions being England and Wales, which have a minimum legal age of five for supervised consumption in private places). Some countries also have different age limits for different types of alcohol drinks.
The majority of countries have a minimum legal drinking age of 18. The most commonly known reason for the law behind the legal drinking age is the effect on the brain in adolescents. Since the brain is still maturing, alcohol can have a negative effect on the memory and long-term thinking. Alongside that, it can cause liver failure, and create a hormone imbalance in teens due to the constant changes and maturing of hormones during puberty. Some countries have a minimum legal drinking age of 19 to prevent the flow of alcoholic beverages in high schools,The Impact and Effectiveness of Minimum Legal Drinking Age Legislation in Canada ccsa.ca while others like the United States have a minimum legal purchasing age of 21 (except in P.R. and USVI, where the drinking age is 18) in an effort to reduce the amount of drunk driving rates among teenagers and young adults.
There are underage clubs, where people below the legal drinking age are catered for and are served non-alcoholic beverages.
Africa The most common minimum age to purchase alcohol in Africa is 18. However, Angola (except Luanda Province), Central African Republic, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Mali have no laws on the books restricting the sale of alcohol to minors. In Libya, Somalia and Sudan the sale, production and consumption of alcohol is completely prohibited. Country State/ region/ province De jure Notes Drinking age Purchase age None 18Order No. 26-75 (1975), Article 14 None There is no national legislation prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors.Luanda Province 18 Legislation in Luanda Province: It is prohibited to sell alcohol beverages to anyone under the age of 18. It is also prohibited for minors to buy and consume alcohol. None20Republic of Benin Report to UN Committee on the Rights of the Child CRC/C/BEN/2 (2005):
Article 8 of the decree of 10 June 1942 regulating the production, import, advertisement, sale, and consumption of alcohol beverages in French West Africa, prohibits the sale or free supply of alcohol beverages to minors under 20. Article 13 stipulates fines ranging from CFAF 200,000 to CFAF 1 million for such offences, doubled in the case of repeat offences. There are no official measures prohibiting children from consuming alcohol, tobacco or other substances harmful to their health. None (prohibited for any person to supply)18 It is prohibited for any person with a liquor license to sell or supply alcohol beverages to minors under the age of 18 years. Since the law only applies to licenses, it is not prohibited for minors to buy, consume, or possess alcohol beverages. It is also prohibited for any person to expose or supply alcohol to a minor under the age of 18 years. None18 (unless accompanied by parent or legal guardian) It is prohibited for any person with a liquor license to sell or supply alcohol beverages to unaccompanied minors under the age of 18 years. 2118 (if accompanied by a person 21 years of age or older) It is prohibited for any person with a liquor license to sell or supply alcohol beverages to anyone under 18 years of age. The law permits adults from the ages 18 to 21 to consume, purchase and buy alcohol beverages if accompanied by a person 21 years of age or older. Anyone over the age of 21 years may buy or consume alcohol unaccompanied. None18 It is prohibited for any person to sell or supply alcohol beverages to minors under the age of 18 years. 15 (off-premises), or 21 (on-premises)It is prohibited for any person to sell or supply alcohol beverages to minors under the age of 15 years when sold or supplied off-premises (e.g., liquor stores, wine stores, and supermarkets). It is prohibited for any person to sell or supply alcohol beverages to minors under the age of 21 years when sold or supplied on-premises (e.g., restaurants, bars, and cafes). None18Law 2017-01 Penal Code Chapter 6 Articles 376–378 establish penalties for licensees who permit entry to youth below age 16 unaccompanied by a supervising adult, sell or offer alcohol beverages to youth below age 18 unaccompanied by a supervising adult, or serve a person below age 18 to intoxication. 18It is prohibited for any person to sell or supply alcohol beverages to minors under the age of 18 years. 18 None 21 Law No. 371 of 1956 concerning public shops and the resolutions implementing it 21 None18 It is prohibited for any person to sell or serve alcohol beverages to minors under the age of 18 years. 18 Liquor Licenses Act (1964) Section 27 21 It is prohibited for any person to sell, offer, serve or allow to serve alcohol beverages "in substantial quantities" to any infant or young person. The criminal code defines a young person as any person under the age of 18 years. But the Criminal Code Proclamation 414 (2004) states: "Whoever endangers the health of another, intentionally and unscrupulously, by administering or serving, or by causing or permitting to be administered or served, to minors (defined as anyone under the age of 18 years) (...) alcohol beverages or spirituous liquors of such kind or in such quantity as to make their injurious effect certain or probable, is punishable with simple imprisonment not exceeding one year, and fine." The Revised Family Code Proclamation No. 213 (2000) Article 215 defines a minor as anyone who has not attained the full age of 18.
In 2019, the Ethiopian parliament passed a bill that bans a specific category of alcohol advertising in the media and also increases the age limit for purchasing alcohol from 18 to 21 years of age. None18Penal Code (1963), Article 209bis-1 None 16 Under the Liquor License Act (1957) it is prohibited to sell, serve or supply alcohol beverages to "anyone under the apparent age of 16". A "young person" is defined as anyone under the age of 17 by the Children and Young Persons Act, 1949 Section 2. None18 None None 18 It is prohibited to sell, serve or supply alcohol beverages to anyone under the age of 18 years. 18 It is prohibited to sell, serve or supply any alcohol beverage to a minor under the age of 18 years. It is also prohibited for minors to consume, buy or attempt to buy alcohol. None 18 It is prohibited to sell, serve or supply alcohol beverages to anyone under the age of 18 years; "this section shall not apply to a parent or guardian who serves an alcoholic beverage to his child or ward" Penal Law of 1976 Sec 16. Prohibited for all ages Previously Article 498 of the Libyan Penal Code prohibited the sale of alcohol beverages to juveniles under the age of 16 years. The ban on alcohol makes no exception for foreigners or tourists. None 18 It is prohibited to sell, serve or supply alcohol beverages to anyone under the age of 18 years. Prohibited for all agesAll forms of alcohol are prohibited. None 18 It is prohibited to sell, serve, or supply alcoholic beverages to anyone under the age of 18 years. None Restricted to 18 for non-Muslims,Prohibited for MuslimsLegislative Decision No. 3.177.66 of 1967 Art 28–29 18Decree 54/2013 Regulations on the Control of the Production, Sale and Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages (2013), Article 5 (Prohibitions) None 18 It is prohibited to sell, serve or supply alcohol beverages to anyone under the age of 18 years. 18Penal Code Article 302 None (at national level) None (all other states)18 in AbujaProhibited in northern statesFor Abuja: Municipal Area Council Bye-Law 2001 Sec 15 None 18 18Organic Law implementing the Penal Code N°01/2012/OL Articles 217 and 219 None18 18 None18 Chapter 113 Licenses Act (2010)
Subsidiary Legislation: Licenses (Manufacturing) Regulation (1987), Article 8(5)(page 20): In the case of manufacturing and processing of liquor, tobacco and tobacco products, the license holder shall (i) not deliver or sell liquor to, or allow any consumption of liquor by, any person under the age of 18 years or deliver or sell tobacco or tobacco products or allow it to be used on the premises by such a person; Subsidiary Legislation: Licenses (Liquor and Outdoor Entertainment) Regulations (1998), Article 14 (page 28): (1) The holder of a license, his servant or agent shall not (a) employ or allow a person under the age of 18 years, ... (b) sell or deliver liquor, cigarettes or tobacco products to, or allow liquor to be consumed or cigarettes or any tobacco products to be used by any person under the age of 18 years on the premises; ... (i) admit any person under the age of 18 years to a premises licensed as a public bar, toddy bar or at the premises licensed to manufacture and sell baka or lapire;... Prohibited for all ages None18 The parent, adult guardian of a minor or a person responsible for administering a religious sacrament, may on occasion supply to that minor a moderate quantity of liquor to be consumed by the minor in the presence and under the supervision of that parent, guardian or other person. 18 Restricted to non-MuslimsMuslims: Prohibited for all agesNon-Muslims: NonePenal Code 1991, Art 78–79. There is no statutory minimum age for non-Muslims, but there are strict restrictions regarding location. Non-Muslim citizens (such as the country's Christian minority) have been granted legal permission to consume alcohol. However, this is permitted only in strictly private settings; drinking in public or in the company of Muslims is expressly prohibited. None 18 None 2018 (beer, wine and cider)Ordinance No. 34 of 1967 Code of alcohol beverage outlets and anti-alcoholism measures Art 29 None18 Law 2004-75 Article 4 prohibits entry to night clubs to those under 18 with an exception for accompanied persons between 16 and 18 in certain venues, sale of alcohol beverages to whom is prohibited. None1816 (wine, beer, porter, cider, perry or native liquor with meal) It is prohibited for any licensee to sell, serve or supply alcohol beverages to anyone under the age of 18 years. The law provides an exception for anyone who is 16 or 17 years of age, and consumes a fermented alcohol drink with a meal, in a part of a licensed premises that serves meals and is not a bar. None 1816 (traditional beer) It is prohibited for any person with a liquor license, to sell, serve or supply alcohol beverages to anyone under 18 years of age. Before the Liquor Licensing Act was enacted in 2011, the minimum age to sell, serve and supply alcohol beverages was 14 years.The Liquor Act, 1959 – Section 46 None18 (except with parent or guardian consent) Liquor Act Article 116 Prohibited conduct by persons in general (1) No person shall— ... (l) being a person to whom in terms of this Act the sale of liquor is prohibited, purchase or attempt to purchase liquor in contravention of such provision; .... (o) sell, lend, give, supply or deliver, or offer so to do, any liquor to any person under the age of eighteen years except with the consent of the parent or guardian of that person.
Children's Act Section 78 – It is prohibited for any person to sell, lend, give, supply, deliver or offer alcohol beverages to any child under the age of 16 years, except upon production of a written order signed by the parent or guardian of the child known to such person. The police has the duty to seize any alcohol beverage in the possession of a child under the age of 16 years without a written consent of the parents or legal guardian.