That answers it. Half of my social circle in .au are Irishmen ;-)

> According to this listing, Australia is not even in the top 20:

That was back in 2003.

These days Australians take their drinking far more seriously:

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/foo_alc_con-food-alcohol-c...

That list doesn't account for the type of alcohol. A liter of whiskey would do more than a liter of beer. Point: Australia could be drunker if they drink relatively more hard alcohol than those higher on the list, giving mahmud the win.

I'm wondering if the article in Wikipedia is really based on "alcohol consumption" and not Alcohol reported to be sold in the country?

There is a clear reason why Luxembourg is on top. The taxes on alcohol is (very) low in Luxembourg and a lot of people from the countries closed to Luxembourg (Belgium, France and Germany) are buying their alcohol there. We don't forget the travellers (Luxembourg is a crossroad in EU) making a stop in Luxembourg...

I hang out a couple times a year in Europe with a group of primarily Irish, Germans, and Danes and the Danes are the only ones I ever see drinking at breakfast. They're also the only ones who've ever commented on the fact that I wasn't having a beer at lunch...