While a cocktail of increasing affluence, a thirst for a tipple, and aggressive marketing by beer and spirits companies have combined to drive up drinking across much of Asia, those factors are still sometimes trumped by religion. That’s particularly true in the region’s Muslim majority countries, some of which ban Muslims from consuming alcohol and make it difficult for non-Muslims to get a drink. The main exception is Central Asia, a region where Muslim majority countries feature relatively high levels of drinking. Ironically, Russia, long-time colonizer that dominated and remains influential in Central Asia, has seen its own drinking levels decrease over recent decades, as has Western Europe.
Simon Roughneen, 'Getting richer, getting drunker in Asia', Asia Times
