Ah, those crazy, decadent, hedonistic Icelanders. Viking spirits alive and well. Each and every citizen can, and does, drink the rest of the world under the table—every weekend, every day, never stop, never tire. The nation’s reputation for alcohol consumption is legendary, terrifying, unbelievable.

And not quite deserved.

With a twisted national pride I had always doubted the legend. The English are awful drunks, to excess and ugliness on a regular basis. No-way are the Icelanders worse than us, I told myself.

And everyone else.

Figures from 2003 (the most recent with sufficient data for a useful comparison) place Iceland 32nd on the list for alcohol consumption per capita—5.5 liters per year, well below the 8.8 average.

The UK (9.3 l) comes in well above this at number 17. Our dear Irish neighbors come in at number 5 (10.6 l), with little Luxembourg (14.6 l) in first place.

At this point the explanations come flying in…

Ah, but that is only because we have state restriction upon alcohol, they say.

Which is true, but so do Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Faroe Isles. More recent figures reveal that Iceland still does not out-drink any of these by a significant margin. It is those disreputable, and non-Viking Fins who manage that, 10.1 l to Iceland’s Nordic second place 7.2 l.

Ok… but we binge drink in Iceland.

Sure you do, but doesn’t everyone?

Indeed, my unhealthy national pride is particularly well justified in this respect. In a 2007 litmus test of EU alcohol attitudes, the UK came third for binge drinking.

With only Finland and Ireland topping us on this one, I’m not sure who to be embarrassed for the most.

Iceland is not an EU country (in case you haven’t heard) so a direct comparison is not easy to make. But we can get some insight from a 2003 survey of student drinking habits.

Ten to 14 percent of Icelandic students reported regular binge-drinking, compared to the highest rates of 26 percent plus in the UK, Ireland and Belgium. A fair number of countries fell in-between, including all the other Nordic nations bar Greenland. (Oh-so-sophisticated French students came right down the list, with less than 9 percent regularly throwing away their dignity.)

Anything else?

Of course there is room to swing with these figures; comparisons are not exact, the surveyed may report themselves falsely, other factors may play a role. But the tape always tells a tale, and in this case it is not how legend has it.

Which is no bad thing. Isn’t it better not to win this battle of excess?

So where does the myth come from?

I have my theories: a glorification of bingeing, in contrast to matter of fact resignation in England; a cultural prevalence for story-telling; questionable publicity.

But these are nothing more than speculation, fueled by too long nights serving the drinks in question. Perhaps Iceland should simply write a new legend. One in which it is proud of its responsible drinking culture.

Lightweights.

Simon Barker – frigno@gmail.com