How many units of alcohol per week? Guidelines by country
In the UK, the weekly line is 14 units, the same for men and women. Below that, the same guidelines for France, the US, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Germany and Spain, with a source for each. Work a single drink with the alcohol unit calculator.
Figures checked against source: 17 October 2026
There is no single international guideline. A UK unit is 8 g of pure alcohol, a French verre standard 10 g, a US standard drink 14 g. The same pint of lager counts as roughly 2.6 UK units and about 1.4 US standard drinks. A figure only means something next to the country it came from.
Units for women
UK Chief Medical Officers advise no more than 14 units a week for both men and women. There is no lower weekly figure for women in the current UK guidance: the 14-unit line is shared. That is not a target to drink up to, and there is no risk-free level of drinking. Other countries on this page still publish different caps by sex; the table below shows each one.
Units per day
The UK guidance does not set an official daily limit. It asks you to spread the 14 units over three or more days, and to have several drink-free days each week. Bunching the whole allowance into one or two nights still counts as the same alcohol. France caps days at 2 verres standards; Australia at 4 standard drinks; the US publishes no numeric daily limit since 2026. See the day column in the table.
At a glance
| Country | One drink = | Weekly | In a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 8 g pure alcohol | 14 units a week | No separate daily figure |
| France | 10 g pure alcohol | 10 standard drinks a week | 2 standard drinks |
| United States | 14 g pure alcohol | No weekly figure | No numeric daily limit |
| Australia | 10 g pure alcohol | 10 standard drinks a week | 4 standard drinks |
| Canada | 13.45 g pure alcohol | A risk continuum, not a limit | 2 on any one occasion |
| Ireland | 10 g pure alcohol | 17 standard drinks for men, 11 for women | No official daily cap |
| New Zealand | 10 g pure alcohol | 15 standard drinks for men, 10 for women | 3 for men, 2 for women |
| Germany | 13.45 g pure alcohol | 2 standard drinks a week | No separate daily figure |
| Spain | 10 g pure alcohol | 14 UBE for men, 7 for women | 2 for men, 1 for women |
None of these are limits below which drinking is safe. Every body on this page states that risk rises with any amount of alcohol; the figures describe where risk stays comparatively low, and each one is a ceiling rather than a target.
Country by country
United Kingdom
1 unit = 8 g / 10 ml of pure alcohol
- Men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis.
- If you regularly drink as much as 14 units, spread it over three or more days rather than saving it for one or two.
- Several drink-free days each week help if you want to cut down.
The UK is the only country on this page that measures in units rather than standard drinks, and its unit is the smallest. A pint of 4.5% lager is about 2.6 units; a 175 ml glass of 13% wine is about 2.3 units.
Source: NHS — UK Chief Medical Officers' low risk drinking guidelines
France
1 verre standard = 10 g of pure alcohol
- No more than 10 verres standard a week, and no more than 2 in a day.
- At least two alcohol-free days in the week.
- The figure is the same for men and women. France moved to a single reference in 2017.
The public health message is deliberately short enough to remember: « maximum 2 verres par jour, et pas tous les jours ». Alcool Info Service is explicit that risk does not start at the threshold. It rises from the first daily drink; the reference is a ceiling, not a target.
United States
1 standard drink = 14 g (0.6 fl oz) of pure alcohol
- The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025–2030 (released 7 January 2026) set no numeric daily limit and no separate limits for men and women. The line is: Consume less alcohol for better overall health.
- People who should avoid alcohol completely: pregnant women; anyone recovering from alcohol use disorder or unable to control how much they drink; anyone taking medications or with medical conditions that interact with alcohol.
- The previous 2020–2025 advice of 2 drinks or fewer a day for men and 1 for women was removed.
- One US standard drink (NIAAA) is 14 g of pure alcohol (0.6 fl oz): about 12 fl oz of 5% beer, 5 fl oz of 12% wine, or 1.5 fl oz of 40% spirits. See what counts as one standard drink.
The US standard drink is the largest on this page at 14 g, so the same evening produces a lower number in American terms than in British ones. That gap is the usual reason figures look incompatible across borders.
Australia
1 standard drink = 10 g of pure alcohol
- Healthy adults: no more than 10 standard drinks a week.
- No more than 4 standard drinks on any one day.
- The less you drink, the lower your risk of alcohol-related harm.
Australia publishes a weekly figure and a single-occasion figure together, which makes it easy to check yourself against if your drinking is uneven across the week.
Source: NHMRC — Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol
Canada
1 standard drink = 13.45 g (17.05 ml) of pure alcohol
- 0 drinks a week: not drinking has benefits, including better health and better sleep.
- 1–2 drinks a week: low risk. You are likely to avoid alcohol-related consequences at this level.
- 3–6 drinks a week: moderate risk. The risk of several cancers, including breast and colon, increases here.
- 7 or more a week: increasingly high risk. The risk of heart disease and stroke rises significantly.
- More than 2 standard drinks per occasion is associated with increased risk of harm to yourself and others.
Canada broke with the format most other countries on this page use. Instead of one threshold, it publishes a continuum and lets you place yourself on it. It is also one of the more conservative references here, alongside Germany’s two-drink weekly band.
Ireland
1 standard drink = 10 g of pure alcohol
- Men: no more than 17 standard drinks a week.
- Women: no more than 11 standard drinks a week.
- There is no separate official daily cap. Modraly shows a day share of the weekly figure as context, not as a HSE limit.
Ireland uses a 10 g standard drink, the same size as France, Australia, New Zealand and Spain. The weekly figures are gendered, like the US and unlike the UK. Unspecified gender in Modraly uses the male default.
New Zealand
1 standard drink = 10 g of pure alcohol
- Men: no more than 3 standard drinks in a day, and 15 in a week.
- Women: no more than 2 standard drinks in a day, and 10 in a week.
New Zealand uses a 10 g standard drink. The advice is gendered on both the day and the week, which is closer to the US shape than to the UK’s single 14-unit line. Unspecified gender in Modraly uses the male default.
Germany
1 standard drink = 13.45 g of pure alcohol
- Low-risk band: no more than 2 standard drinks a week.
- The figure is the same for men and women.
Germany uses a 13.45 g standard drink, the same size as Canada’s. The weekly band is also in the Canadian neighbourhood: two drinks a week, not 14. It is one of the more conservative references Modraly localises.
Spain
1 UBE = 10 g of pure alcohol
- Men: up to 2 UBE in a day, which is 14 in a week.
- Women: up to 1 UBE in a day, which is 7 in a week.
Spain’s UBE is 10 g, the same as a French verre standard. The shape is daily and gendered, like the US, then multiplied out to a week. Unspecified gender in Modraly uses the male default.
Why the numbers don't compare across borders
Two things change from country to country, and they move in opposite directions. The size of one drink varies by nearly a factor of two: 8 g in the UK, 14 g in the US. The shape of the guidance varies too: a weekly cap in the UK, a weekly cap plus a per-occasion cap in Australia, qualitative US guidance with no numeric cap since 2026, a risk continuum in Canada.
So "14 a week" and "10 a week" are not 40% apart in real terms. If you have moved country, or you drink in one and read guidance from another, converting to grams of pure alcohol is the only reliable comparison. The alcohol unit calculator does that conversion for any drink.
How Modraly uses these figures
Modraly shows your weekly total next to the official reference for your country, in the local measure: units in the UK, verres standards in France, standard drinks elsewhere. It does not set a goal, score your week, or tell you what the gap means. The comparison is context. What you do with it is yours.
Modraly is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice. For personal health advice, speak with a qualified professional. Pregnancy, trying to conceive, being under the legal drinking age, certain medications and some health conditions usually mean not drinking at all.
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Common questions
How many units of alcohol per week is considered low risk?
In the UK, the Chief Medical Officers advise no more than 14 units a week for both men and women, spread over three or more days. France sets 10 verres standard a week and no more than 2 in a day. Australia sets 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 in a day. Since the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025–2030, the US sets no numeric daily or weekly limit and advises consuming less alcohol for better overall health. Canada publishes a risk continuum rather than a threshold.
What is a unit of alcohol?
A UK unit is 8 g, or 10 ml, of pure alcohol. It is a measure of the alcohol in a drink, not of the drink itself: a pint of 4.5% lager is about 2.6 units, and a 175 ml glass of 13% wine is about 2.3 units.
Is a unit the same as a standard drink?
No. A UK unit is 8 g of pure alcohol. A French verre standard, and the standard drink in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and Spain, are 10 g. A Canadian and a German standard drink are 13.45 g. A US standard drink is 14 g. The same pint counts as roughly 2.6 UK units but only about 1.4 US standard drinks, so figures do not transfer between countries.
How do I work out the units in a drink?
Multiply the volume in millilitres by the ABV percentage and divide by 1,000. A 568 ml pint at 4.5% is (568 x 4.5) / 1000 = 2.6 UK units. For grams of pure alcohol, multiply millilitres of pure alcohol by 0.789.
Are these guidelines a safe limit?
No. Every one of these bodies is explicit that there is no risk-free level of drinking, and that risk rises before the published figure is reached. The guidelines describe a level at which risk stays comparatively low, not a level that is safe or a target to drink up to.