How many units of alcohol per week? Guidelines by country
Five countries, five different answers, and five different definitions of the thing being counted. Official low-risk drinking guidelines for the UK, France, the US, Australia and Canada, side by side, with the source for each.
Figures checked against source: 9 August 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.
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 | 2 for men, 1 for women |
| 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 |
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 one of these five countries that measures in units rather than standard drinks, and its unit is the smallest of the five. 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
- Adults of legal drinking age who choose to drink: up to 2 drinks or less in a day for men, and 1 drink or less in a day for women.
- These are limits for the days you drink, not weekly averages you can bank and spend on Saturday.
- Drinking less is better for health than drinking more.
The US standard drink is the largest of the five 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.
Source: NIAAA Rethinking Drinking / Dietary Guidelines for Americans
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 is the only one of the five to publish a weekly figure and a single-occasion figure together, which makes it the easiest set 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 every other country on this page uses. Instead of one threshold, it publishes a continuum and lets you place yourself on it. It is also, by some distance, the most conservative of the five.
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, daily limits with no weekly figure in the US, a risk continuum in Canada.
So "14 a week" and "10 a week" are not 40% apart in real terms, and "2 a day" in France is not the same permission as "2 a day" in the US. 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 in the US. 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. The US publishes daily limits instead of a weekly one, and 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 an Australian standard drink are 10 g, a Canadian standard drink is 13.45 g, and 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.