Alcohol driving limits in Europe
The most common standard for legal blood alcohol limit while driving in Western Europe is 0.5 ‰. In most countries of Eastern Europe ranges from 0.0 ‰ to 0.3 ‰.
Requirements for drivers with driving experience of not more than two years in many countries are more stringent, and the permissible level of alcohol in the blood for them is much lower.
The figure below shows the heat map of the permissible level of alcohol content in Europe when driving a car.
0.0 ‰0.1 ‰0.2 ‰ 0.3 ‰0.4 ‰0.5 ‰0.8 ‰
Data in the table can be sorted in ascending/descending order by clicking on the column header.
| Country | Legal limit (‰) | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | 0.50 | for novice (experience less 2 years) permitted blood alcohol level is 0.1 ‰ |
| Azerbaijan | 0.30 | |
| Albania | 0.10 | |
| Andorra | 0.50 | |
| Armenia | 0.20 | |
| Belarus | 0.29 | from August 12, 2011 |
| Belgium | 0.50 | if your experience up to 2 years you will automatically be prosecuted |
| Bulgaria | 0.50 | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina |
0.30 | |
| Great Britain | 0.80 | in Scotland permitted blood alcohol level is 0.50 ‰ (from December 5, 2014) |
| Hungary | 0.00 | |
| Germany | 0.50 | for novice (experience up to 2 years) or driver’s age not older than 21 years permitted blood alcohol level is 0.00 ‰ |
| Greece | 0.50 | for novice (experience up to 2 years), motorcycles and mopeds drivers permitted blood alcohol level is 0.2 ‰ |
| Georgia | 0.30 | |
| Denmark | 0.50 | |
| Ireland | 0.50 | for novice (experience up to 2 years) permitted blood alcohol level is 0.2 ‰ |
| Iceland | 0.50 | |
| Spain | 0.50 | for novice (experience up to 2 years) permitted blood alcohol level is 0.3 ‰ |
| Italy | 0.50 | for novice (experience up to 3 years) permitted blood alcohol level is 0.00 ‰ |
| Cyprus | 0.50 | |
| Latvia | 0.50 | for novice (experience up to 2 years) permitted blood alcohol level is 0.2 ‰ |
| Lithuania | 0.40 | for novice (experience up to 2 years) and motorcyclists permitted blood alcohol level is 0.00 ‰ |
| Liechtenstein | 0.80 | |
| Luxembourg | 0.50 | for novice (experience up to 2 years) permitted blood alcohol level is 0.2 ‰ |
| North Macedonia |
0.50 | for novice (experience up to 2 years) permitted blood alcohol level is 0.00 ‰ |
| Malta | 0.80 | |
| Moldova | 0.30 | |
| Netherlands | 0.50 | for novice (experience up to 5 years) and mopeds driver's age not older than 24 years permitted blood alcohol level is 0.2 ‰ |
| Norway | 0.20 | |
| Poland | 0.20 | |
| Portugal | 0.50 | |
| Romania | 0.00 | |
| Serbia | 0.20 | for novice (experience up to 2 years) or driver’s age not older than 21 years permitted blood alcohol level is 0.00 ‰ |
| Slovakia | 0.00 | |
| Slovenia | 0.50 | for novice (experience up to 3 years) permitted blood alcohol level is 0.00 ‰ |
| Turkey | 0.50 | for drivers of cars with caravans or trailers permitted blood alcohol level is 0.00 ‰ |
| Ukraine | 0.00 | tolerance 0.2 ‰ |
| Finland | 0.50 | |
| France | 0.50 | for novice (experience up to 2 years) and bus driver permitted blood alcohol level is 0.2 ‰ |
| Croatia | 0.50 | |
| Montenegro | 0.30 | |
| Czech Republic |
0.00 | |
| Switzerland | 0.50 | for novice (experience up to 1 year) permitted blood alcohol level is 0.00 ‰ |
| Sweden | 0.20 | |
| Estonia | 0.20 | |
| Russia | 0.29 |
For more information, including the penalty for exceeding alcohol limit can be found in the relevant section for each country.