List of countries with alcohol prohibition

The following countries or territories have or had comprehensive prohibitions against alcohol. Particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Present

Currently, alcohol prohibition is enforced in many Muslim majority countries, in parts of India, and in some Indigenous American and Indigenous Australian communities and certain northern communities in the Canadian territories.^[1] They can range from bans on sales during certain times to complete bans.^[2]

•  Afghanistan^[3]
• Algeria (illegal in public, legal in restaurants, bars, hotels and homes)^[4]
• Bangladesh (license required; illegal during Ramadan)^[5]
• Belarus (sales banned in public places except for bars and restaurants)^[6]
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (alcohol sales in public places illegal; taxes apply in Republika Srpska. Banned in BH Airlines flights for Muslims)^[7][8]
• Brunei (Non-Muslims over 17 years of age may have a limited amount of alcohol, but must declare it to the customs authorities on arrival, and must consume it in private)^[9]
• Canada
  • Yukon (in some communities)^{[citation needed]}
  • Northwest Territories (in some communities)^[1]
  • Nunavut (in some communities)^[10]
  • Quebec (in some communities)^[11]
• Chile (prohibited in public places, except for bars and restaurants. Sale is banned countrywide on election days)^[12]
• China (in regions with Muslim-majority population within Gansu, Ningxia and Xinjiang)^[13][14]
• Comoros (for Muslims during Ramadan)^[15]
• Djibouti^{[citation needed]}
• Egypt illegal to drink in public places and during Ramadan.
• India^[16]
  • Gujarat^[17]
  • Bihar
  • Nagaland
  • Mizoram^[18][19]
• Indonesia ( Aceh province only; public consumption illegal, allowance in certain cases for Non-Muslims and foreign tourists that drink in private)^[20][21][22]
• Iran (home production legal for Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians; commercial production illegal)^[23]
• Iraq (parliamentary ban, rarely enforced)^[24]
• Ireland (selling in stores between 10 p.m. and 10:30 a.m (12:30 p.m. on Sundays) is illegal, pubs are confined to set hours for sale of alcohol)^[25]
• Israel (selling in stores between 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. is illegal; serving at bars, restaurants and clubs always legal)^[26][27]
• Kazakhstan (sales illegal in some villages, consumption remains legal)^[28]
• Kuwait (forbidden even for non-Muslims and tourists, except foreign diplomats)^[29]
• Libya^[30]
• Malaysia (excluding non-Muslims; some states ban drinking in public)
  • Kelantan^[31]
  • Terengganu^[32]
• Maldives (legal for foreigners at licensed establishments; transport of alcohol illegal)^[33]
• Mauritania^[34]
• Mexico (illegal to drink alcohol in public streets and to carry open alcohol containers in public)^[35]
• Morocco (illegal in public; alcohol must be purchased and consumed in licensed hotels, bars, and tourist areas, and is sold in most major supermarkets^[36])
• Norway (only sold in stores within a certain time period on weekdays. Illegal to drink in public, except at bars and restaurants. Nightclubs and bars are not allowed to serve after 3 a.m. Alcohol stronger than 4.7% is only sold in designated stores (Vinmonopolet), but beer or cider of 4.7% or less can be bought in grocery stores.)^[37]
• Oman (legal for non-Muslim foreigners at restaurants, hotels and bars; at home with license; illegal in public)^[38]
• Pakistan (legal for Non-Muslims and foreigners, served at Hotels and can be bought at Wine stores; Illegal for Muslims; public consumption illegal)^[39]
• Palestine (illegal in some localities - such as the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip -, but legal in Palestine’s West Bank)^[40]
• Philippines (forbidden sales on election day and the day before; foreigners allowed on these days on establishments with permits)^[41]
• Poland (illegal in public, but allowed in bars and some restaurants)^[42]
• Qatar (legal for tourists at hotels and bars as well as expatriates with permits)^[43]
• Russia
  • Chechnya (illegal for Muslims)^[44]
• Saudi Arabia^[45][46] (Since 1952, sale and possession completely illegal for all residents and tourists, including non-Muslims; exception only to foreign diplomats)
• Somalia^[47]
• Sudan (excluding non-Muslims in private)^[48]
• Syria (sales and consumption illegal for Muslims since 2024–25; exceptions apply for non-Muslim population such as Christians)^[49]
• Tunisia (sales only banned on Fridays and during Ramadan)
• Turkmenistan (illegal on trains, airplanes, and ferries as well as sports facilities; sales banned on weekends and holidays unless at bars and restaurants)^[50]
• United Kingdom
  • Bournville (The sale of alcohol is not permitted in the Bournville area of Birmingham and thus no licensed premisies exist in the village).^[51]
  • Northern Ireland (Alcohol cannot be sold after 22:00 and before 08:00.)^[52]
  • Scotland (Alcohol cannot be sold in shops before 10:00, or after 22:00, sales in bars, pubs, nightclubs and other licensed establishments is permitted)
• United States (dry counties for sales)
• Yemen (illegal; before the war, there were exceptions for tourists at certain hotels in Aden and Sana'a)^[53]
• United Arab Emirates (illegal for Muslims, illegal in Sharjah; public consumption illegal)^[54]

Past

• Canada – 1918–1920 (see prohibition in Canada)
• Faroe Islands – 1907–1992 (see 1907 Faroese alcohol referendum)
• Finland – 1919–1932^[55]
• Hungarian Soviet Republic – March 21 – August 1, 1919 – Sale and consumption of alcohol was prohibited^[56] (partial ban from July 23).^[57]
• Iceland – 1915–1935 (see prohibition in Iceland) – However beer with an alcohol content exceeding 2.25% was prohibited until 1989.^{[citation needed]}
• North Yemen – 1962–1990^{[citation needed]}
• Norway – 1916–1926, distilled spirits banned; 1917-1923 fortified wines banned.^[58][59]
• Ottoman Empire – 1612–1640 (prohibition by Murad IV)^{[citation needed]}
• Panama – March 25 – May 8, 2020 – Sale and consumption of alcohol was prohibited as part of the social distancing measures against Covid-19.^{[citation needed]}
• Philippines – 1966–1986^{[citation needed]}
• Pitcairn Islands – 1790-2009^[60]
• Russian Empire and the Soviet Union – July 19, 1914 – August 28, 1925; 1929;^{[citation needed]}
• South Africa (temporary ban to prevent drunken violence during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa)^[a]
• United Arab Emirates – In November 2020, the UAE introduced reforms that include the decriminalisation of alcohol for those 21 and over, except the Emirate of Sharjah. ^{[citation needed]}
• United States – 1920–1933 (see prohibition in the United States)

See also

• Religion and alcohol

Notes

1. In 2020, South Africa reimposed a ban on alcohol sales in July^[61] after an initial ban ended on June 1.^[62] In August, South Africa lifted its second ban on alcohol.^[63]