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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. 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.^[1]

The majority of countries have a minimum legal drinking age of 18.^[2] 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.^[3] Some countries have a minimum legal drinking age of 19 to prevent the flow of alcoholic beverages in high schools,^[4] while others like the United States have a minimum legal purchasing age of 21 (18 in P.R. and USVI) in an effort to reduce the amount of drunk driving rates among teenagers and young adults.^[5]

There is a concept called underage clubs, where individuals below the legal drinking age are catered for and are served non alcoholic beverages.^[6][7]

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.^{[improper synthesis?]}

Country	State/ region/ province	De jure		Notes
		Drinking age	Purchase age
Algeria		None[8]	18[9]	Order No. 26-75 (1975), Article 14
Angola		None[10]		There is no national legislation prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors.
	Luanda Province	18[11]		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.[11]
Benin		None	20	Republic 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.
Botswana		None[12] (prohibited for any person to supply)[10]	18[12]	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.[12] It is also prohibited for any person to expose or supply alcohol to a minor under the age of 18 years.[10]
Burundi		None[13]	18 (unless accompanied by parent or legal guardian)[13]	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.
Cameroon		21 18 (if accompanied by a person 21 years of age or older)[14]		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.
Cape Verde		None[15]	18[15]	It is prohibited for any person to sell or supply alcohol beverages to minors under the age of 18 years.
Central African Republic		15 (off-premises), or 21 (on-premises)[16]		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).[16]
Chad		None	18	Law 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.
Comoros		18[17]		It is prohibited for any person to sell or supply alcohol beverages to minors under the age of 18 years.[17]
Democratic Republic of the Congo		18
Djibouti		None
Egypt		21		Law No. 371 of 1956 concerning public shops and the resolutions implementing it
Equatorial Guinea		21[18]
Eritrea		None[19]	18[19]	It is prohibited for any person to sell or serve alcohol beverages to minors under the age of 18 years.
Eswatini		18[10]		Liquor Licenses Act (1964) Section 27
Ethiopia		21[20]	21[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.
Gabon		None	18	Penal Code (1963), Article 209bis-1
Gambia		None[22][10]	16[22][10]	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.
Ghana		None	18[23]
Guinea-Bissau		None[10]
Kenya		None[24]	18[24]	It is prohibited to sell, serve or supply alcohol beverages to anyone under the age of 18 years.
Lesotho		18[25]		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.
Liberia		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.
Libya		Prohibited for all ages[26]		Previously Article 498 of the Libyan Penal Code prohibited the sale of alcohol beverages to juveniles under the age of 16 years.[10]
Malawi		None	18[27]	It is prohibited to sell, serve or supply alcohol beverages to anyone under the age of 18 years.
Mauritania		Prohibited for all ages[28]
Mauritius		None	18[29]	It is prohibited to sell, serve, or supply alcoholic beverages to anyone under the age of 18 years.
Morocco		None	Restricted to non-Muslims 16 for non-Muslims Prohibited for Muslims	Legislative Decision No. 3.177.66 of 1967 Art 28–29
Mozambique		18[30]		Decree 54/2013 Regulations on the Control of the Production, Sale and Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages (2013), Article 5 (Prohibitions)
Namibia		None	18[31]	It is prohibited to sell, serve or supply alcohol beverages to anyone under the age of 18 years.
Niger		18		Penal Code Article 302
Nigeria		None (at national level)[10]	None (all other states) 18 in Abuja Prohibited in Borno	For Abuja: Municipal Area Council Bye-Law 2001 Sec 15
Republic of the Congo		None	18[32]
Rwanda		18		Organic Law implementing the Penal Code N°01/2012/OL Articles 217 and 219
Senegal		None	18[33]
Seychelles		None	18	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;...
Somalia		Prohibited for all ages[34]
South Africa		None	18	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.[35]
South Sudan		18[10]
Sudan		Restricted to non-Muslims Muslims: Prohibited for all ages Non-Muslims: Unknown[36]		Penal Code 1991, Art 78–79
Tanzania		None	18[37]
Togo		None[10]	20[9] 18 (beer, wine and cider)	Ordinance No. 34 of 1967 Code of alcohol beverage outlets and anti-alcoholism measures Art 29
Tunisia		None	18	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.
Uganda		None[38]	18 16 (wine, beer, porter, cider, perry or native liquor with meal)[38]	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.
Western Sahara		None[10]
Zambia		18[39] 16 (traditional beer)[40]		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.[41]
Zimbabwe		None[42]	18 (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.[42]

Americas

In Central America, the Caribbean, and South America the legal drinking age and legal purchase age varies from 0 to 20 years (see table below). In South America in particular, the legal purchase age is 18 years, with two exceptions:

• In Paraguay, the legal drinking age and purchase age is 20 years.
• In Guyana, minors aged 16 or 17 may consume a glass of beer or wine in a restaurant provided they buy a meal.

In North America the legal drinking age and legal purchase age varies from 18 to 21 years:

• In Mexico, the drinking age is 18 in all states.
• In the United States, the minimum legal age to purchase alcoholic beverages is 21 years of age; the two exceptions are Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands where the age is 18. The legal drinking age varies by state, and many states have no age requirements for supervised drinking with one's parents or legal guardians.
• In Canada, most provinces have a minimum age of 19 years to buy or consume alcohol, while in Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec, the minimum age is 18 years.

In the late 20th century, much of North America changed its minimum legal drinking ages (MLDAs) as follows:

In the 1970s, provincial and state policy makers in Canada and the United States moved to lower MLDAs (which were set at 21 years in most provinces/territories and states) to coincide with the jurisdictional age of majority — typically 18 years of age.... As a result, MLDAs were reduced in all Canadian provinces in more than half of US states. In Canada, however, two provinces, Ontario and Saskatchewan , quickly raised their subsequent MLDAs from 18 to 19 years in response to a few studies demonstrating an association between the lowered drinking age and increases in alcohol-related harms to youth and young adults, including increases in motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and alcohol intoxication among high school students. Following MLDA reductions in the US, research in several states provided persuasive evidence of sharp increases in rates of fatal and nonfatal MVAs appearing immediately after the implementation of lower drinking ages. These scientific findings galvanized public pressure on lawmakers to raise MLDAs and, in response, the federal government introduced the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, which imposed a reduction of highway funds for states if they did not increase their MLDA to 21 years. All states complied and implemented an MLDA of 21 years by 1988.^[43]

Country	State/ region/ province	De jure		Notes
		Drinking age	Purchase age
Anguilla		None[44]	18[44]	It is prohibited to sell or serve alcohol drinks to anyone under the age of 18 years. Violating the regulation is punished with a $9,600 fine.
Antigua and Barbuda		None	16 (on premises) None (off premises)[45]	The sale and distribution of alcohol to a person under 16 years of age, and purchase by persons under 16 years of age, for consumption in licensed premises are prohibited. ID is rarely requested.
Argentina		None	18[46]	Drinking age is rarely enforced. ID is almost never requested.
Bahamas		18[47]		It is prohibited for any adult to sell, serve or supply any alcohol beverage to a child (defined as anyone under the age of 18 years). The law provides an exception to treat an illness in urgent cases or upon order by a medical doctor.
Barbados		None	18[48]	It is prohibited to sell or serve any alcohol beverage to anyone under the age of 18 years. Previously 16, the President of the Barbados Road Safety Association pushed to raise the drinking age to 18 years because the law was often violated.[49][50]
Belize		18[51]		Drinking age is rarely enforced. ID is almost never requested.
Bermuda		18[52]		It is prohibited to sell or serve any alcohol beverage to a child under the age of 18 years.
Bolivia		None	18	It is prohibited to sell or serve alcohol beverages to minors under the age of 18 years. Law 259 Against the Sale and Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages (2012) Article 20
Brazil		None[53]	18[53]	It is prohibited to sell, serve or supply any alcohol beverage to a person under 18 years of age. The presidential law enacted on 17 March 2015 made any violation of the law a criminal offence. Any adult person selling, serving, giving or supplying alcohol beverages to a minor is punished with imprisonment of 2 to 4 years, a fine of R$3.000 to R$10.000 and a ban to operate any business selling or serving alcohol.
British Virgin Islands		16[51]		It is prohibited to sell or to supply alcohol to anyone under the age of 16. ID is rarely requested.
Canada	Alberta  Manitoba  Quebec	18[54][55][56]		In Alberta no person may give or sell or permit any person to give or sell liquor to a minor in licensed premises.[54] In Manitoba a person must not give, sell or otherwise supply liquor to a minor. The law provides exceptions for a doctor, dentist, pharmacist or other health care professional for medical purposes; for sacramental purposes and by the parent, guardian, spouse or common-law partner, if it is given or supplied in a residence.[55] In Quebec the law prohibits the sale of alcohol beverages to a minor under the age of 18 years.[56]
	Ontario  Saskatchewan  British Columbia  Newfoundland and Labrador  Nova Scotia  New Brunswick  Prince Edward Island  Northwest Territories  Yukon  Nunavut	None	19	Ontario's Liquor Licence Act permits the supply and consumption of liquor to those under the age of 19. However, supplying a person under the age of 19 is restricted to the person's parent or legal guardian, and may only occur in a residence or in a private place of the parent or legal guardian. A person under the age of 19 who was supplied liquor in this manner is permitted to consume the liquor only in the place it was supplied.[57]
Cayman Islands		18[58]		It is prohibited to sell, serve or supply alcohol beverages to anyone under the age of 18 years. It is also prohibited for any minor to buy, attempt to buy or consume alcohol beverages. Violation of the law is punished with a fine of five thousand dollars, and the court may, if the offence was committed by the licensee, order that the licensee shall forfeit his licence and that no licence may be issued to that person for a period not exceeding ten years from the date of his conviction.
Chile		18[1]		The minimum age is 18 to enter an enclosure that sells alcohol beverages. Selling alcohol to a minor may incur a fine. One must provide identification upon request. Residents of Chile over the age of 18 must carry their Chilean identification card issued by the Civil Registry and Identification Service at all times.[59]
Colombia		None	18[60]	The law prohibits the sale of alcohol to a minor (anyone under the age of 18 years). It is not prohibited for minors to buy, attempt to buy or consume alcohol.[60]
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