According to the 2015 Beer Price Index, Saigon has some of the cheapest been in the world.
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The index, which compiles beer prices across 75 cities, found that beer can be purchased in Saigon for about US$0.99 at the supermarket and $2.58 at bars for an average of $1.78 per 33cl beer. This makes the city the cheapest place to buy a beer in SE Asia and second cheapest in Asia. It also found that the average Saigon resident consumes 119 liters of beer each year at a cost of $635.
Eastern European cities proved to be the cheapest places to enjoy a cold brew. In Krakow, Poland; Kiev, Ukraine and Bratislava, Slovakia a 33cl beer will only set you back between $1.66 and $1.69.
Here’s the full list:
While cheap beer is a nice perk for tourists, it’s resulted in something of a public health and economic issue for the country. Vietnam lost 2.6 percent of its GDP, or US$3.5 billion, to traffic accidents related to drinking and driving in 2012
Last July, the World Health Organization’s representative to Vietnam, Takeshi Kasai, said that “consumption of alcoholic drinks is common among more than 70 percent of Vietnamese men, of which one of every four people drinks at harmful levels.”
The country has tried to reduce drinking with ineffective bans, including those prohibiting the sale of alcohol after 10pm and on the country’s streets.
[Photo via The City Lane]
