Heartbreaking Study Says Americans Suck At Pregaming And We're Losing By A Lot

Pregaming before you hit the bars on a Friday night is important, and it looks like the entire world is finally catching on.

It's a pretty smart drinking strategy.

For starters, it's economic because you won't have to waste a ton of money at the bar trying to get a buzz when you arrive.

(You'll be drunk when you get there! Hooray!)

It's also a great way to loosen up with friends before enjoying the night out, and as long as you have a pal willing to stay sober and drive everyone to the club -- you're golden.

To everyone's surprise, though, America isn't the top country when it comes to guzzling booze before a night out.

Researchers behind the Global Drugs Survey recently studied 25 different countries and 65,126 people to determine which country pregames the most.

Ireland has the highest rate of pregamers, with 85 percent of people surveyed admitting they drink before heading to the bar.

So, yeah, citizens of Ireland obviously know how to party.

The study -- which was reportedly posted on the front page of the Irish Examiner on Wednesday morning -- said 85 percent of 1,883 Irish people surveyed said they drink before going out, per The Journal.

Countries that fall below Ireland are Norway (80.5 percent), Canada (80.2 percent) and New Zealand (78.7 percent).

America needs to step it up because they aren't even close to these countries.

In fact, they're ranked 12 on the stats at 65 percent -- below countries like France, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, Finland and Denmark.

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Research found citizens of Greece pregame less than any other country surveyed, with a tiny 17.7 percent of pregramers in its nation.

The study also shows the price of drinks at a club or bar affect the amount people chose to pregame.

In countries where booze is more expensive in public places, more people will pregame at home, and vise versa.

The study says,

The higher the prevalence of current drinkers, the higher the percentage of pre-drinkers […] In countries with a low price ratio, the higher the prevalence of heavy drinkers, the higher the percentage of pre-drinkers. The opposite effect was observed in countries with high price ratios.

If you like a good pregame, take a trip to Ireland. I'm sure they'll show you how to party before you even hit the club.

Citations: We Now Know Which Country Pregames the Most Booze (Munchies), The country-level effects of drinking, heavy drinking and drink prices on pre-drinking: An international comparison of 25 countries (Wiley Online Library), Global Drug Survey, Kiwis are prolific pre-loaders, study finds, even though we're not heavy drinkers (Stuff), Ireland tops the list internationally as 85% of people here pre-drink (The Journal)