Table 3 characterises the drug use history of young adults (22–29 y) in each country by age. Alcohol use by age 15 y was far more common in European countries than in the Middle East and Africa. By age 21 y, the vast majority of young adults in European countries (76%–99%), Japan (92%), New Zealand (94%), and the Americas (78%–93%) had begun using alcohol; estimates were lower in the Middle East and Africa (40%–63%). In the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, and New Zealand, >60% of young people had started to drink by age 15 y. With three exceptions (South Africa, Lebanon, and Nigeria), this threshold value of 60% was crossed by age 21 y in all countries studied, with especially large proportions starting to drink between ages 15 and 21 y in the Ukraine and Japan.
