A staggering 33 percent of Croatian 15-year-old boys drink alcohol every week, more than in any other European country, showed the report from World Health Organisation (WHO), covering alcohol consumption among 15-year-olds in Europe in the period from 2002 to 2014.

The report also showed that Croatia was one of the few countries, along with Austria, Israel, and Macedonia, where no significant change was observed in prevalence of adolescent drinking in 2014 compared to 2002.

According to WHO, some 25 percent of boys and more than a fifth of girls in Europe said they had been drunk twice or more times by the time they were 15 years old.

Behind Croatia, the highest prevalence of alcohol consumption among adolescent boys was observed in Malta (32 percent) and Italy (31 percent).

The highest prevalence of weekly drinking among girls, over 20 percent, was observed in Malta, while in Croatia, under 15 percent of girls reported drinking weekly.

The lowest weekly drinking among boys and girls in 2014 was reported in Nordic countries and Ireland.

Weekly drinking declined among both boys and girls in Europe, with the gender gap narrowing over time. Greater gaps remained in southern and eastern Europe, where alcohol consumption among boys remained around two times higher than that of girls.

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