The drink-driving limit is a national rule rather than a European one, and it changes value at every border you cross. The spread is wider than most people expect: from zero tolerance in four countries to 0.8 per mille in England, Wales and Northern Ireland — four times the Swedish limit.
Drive abroad and the local limit applies, whoever issued your licence. Not knowing it is not a defence.
The Europe-wide table comes first, followed by sections for the countries whose rules do not fit on one row: the USA, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, and the UK — including what the British limit is in units.
Drink-driving limits in Europe
Figures are per mille (‰) of alcohol in the blood. The novice column applies to drivers who passed their test recently — how recently varies by country.
| Country | Limit | Novice drivers |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| Belgium | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Bulgaria | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Croatia | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| Cyprus | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Czechia | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Denmark | 0.5 | 0.2 (licence held under 3 years) |
| Estonia | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Finland | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| France | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Germany | 0.5 | 0.0 (probationary period or under 21) |
| Greece | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Hungary | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Ireland | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Italy | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| Latvia | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Lithuania | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Luxembourg | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Malta | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Netherlands | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Norway | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Poland | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Portugal | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Romania | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Scotland | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Slovakia | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Slovenia | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| Spain | 0.5 | 0.3 (licence held under 2 years; 0.0 under 18) |
| Sweden | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Switzerland | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| United Kingdom (England, Wales, N. Ireland) | 0.8 | 0.8 |
Sweden is strict — but not the strictest
Sweden’s 0.2 ‰ limit is often described as the strictest in the world. Not quite. Four countries in the table — Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania — allow nothing at all, for any driver. Sweden shares second place with Norway, Poland and Estonia.
At the other end, England, Wales and Northern Ireland sit at 0.8 ‰ — the highest limit in Europe, and four times the Swedish one.
Most of Europe is at 0.5. That figure is effectively the continental standard: the European Commission recommended it in 2001, and most member states settled there.
The legal BAC limit in the USA: 0.08 %, not per mille
American limits are quoted as BAC percentage — grams of alcohol per 100 ml of blood — rather than per mille. It is the same measurement on a different scale, and converting is easy: multiply the percentage by ten to get per mille. So 0.08 % is 0.8 ‰, four times the Swedish limit.
| Driver | Limit (BAC %) | In per mille |
|---|---|---|
| Every state except Utah | 0.08 % | 0.8 ‰ |
| Utah | 0.05 % | 0.5 ‰ |
| Commercial drivers (CDL) | 0.04 % | 0.4 ‰ |
| Under 21 | 0.00–0.02 % | 0.0–0.2 ‰ |
Utah lowered its limit to 0.05 % on 30 December 2018 and is still the only state there. Illinois has debated the same change during 2026, but no other legislature has moved.
Drivers under 21 face zero tolerance nationwide. Federal law ties highway funding to states treating 0.02 % as drink-driving for that group, and several states go lower still, to 0.00 or 0.01 %.
Penalties are set by each state and vary sharply. Many states add enhanced penalties at around 0.15 %, and the offence is called DUI or DWI depending on where you are.
The drink-driving limit in Spain
Spain is at 0.5 ‰ in blood, equivalent to 0.25 mg/l in breath. Spanish police test breath first, so that is the figure you meet at a roadside check, and it is what the fines are scaled to: 0.25–0.50 mg/l costs €500 and four licence points, above 0.50 mg/l €1,000 and six points.
Two groups are held to 0.3 ‰ (0.15 mg/l): anyone who has held a licence for less than two years, and professional drivers. Drivers under 18, on any vehicle at all, are at 0.0.
The DGT proposed lowering the general limit to 0.2 ‰, but the Spanish Congress voted it down in March 2026, so the limits are unchanged from previous years.
The drink-driving limit in Germany
Germany looks like a 0.5 ‰ country at first glance, but four figures matter:
- 0.0 ‰ for drivers in the probationary period (Probezeit, two years) and for everyone under 21, however long they have held a licence. The rule dates from 1 August 2007.
- 0.3 ‰ — drive visibly impaired, weaving or into a collision, and it can count as relative Fahruntüchtigkeit and become a criminal matter at this level.
- 0.5 ‰ — the administrative limit. A fine, a driving ban and points in Flensburg.
- 1.1 ‰ — absolute Fahruntüchtigkeit. A criminal offence regardless of how you were actually driving.
The drink-driving limit in France
France is at 0.5 ‰ (0.25 mg/l of exhaled air). Anyone on a permis probatoire is at 0.2 ‰ (0.10 mg/l) — the first three years of a licence, two for drivers who learned with a supervisor. The same 0.2 ‰ applies to all bus and coach drivers.
At 0.2 ‰ the practical answer is zero glasses: a single drink is enough to cross it.
The drink-driving limit in Italy
Italy is at 0.5 ‰ for most drivers and at zero for three groups, under article 186-bis of the highway code: everyone under 21, everyone who has held a category B licence for less than three years, and professional drivers carrying people or goods.
Penalties come in three bands by measured level — 0.5–0.8, 0.8–1.5 and above 1.5 — with the upper two carrying prison in the sentencing range and loss of the licence. Below 0.5 ‰ only the zero-tolerance groups can be fined.
The UK: England, Scotland, and how many units that is
The UK is the only country in the table where the limit changes inside its own borders. England, Wales and Northern Ireland are at 0.8 ‰, Scotland at 0.5 ‰ since 2014. Drive from Newcastle to Edinburgh and the limit halves on the way.
British authorities state the limit in three measures at once, because all three can be used in evidence:
| Measure | England, Wales, N. Ireland | Scotland |
|---|---|---|
| Breath | 35 µg per 100 ml | 22 µg per 100 ml |
| Blood | 80 mg per 100 ml | 50 mg per 100 ml |
| Urine | 107 mg per 100 ml | 67 mg per 100 ml |
80 mg per 100 ml of blood is the same thing as 0.8 ‰; 50 mg per 100 ml is 0.5 ‰.
Is the limit in England and Wales changing?
Possibly, but it has not changed yet. The Government’s Road Safety Strategy of January 2026 committed to consulting on a lower drink-drive limit for England and Wales, which has not moved since 1967. The consultation ran from 7 January to 11 May 2026 and also asked whether novice drivers should have a lower limit than everyone else. It did not fix a new figure, though Scotland’s 50 mg is the obvious reference point. As of September 2026 the Government has not published its response. Any new limit needs legislation and a start date, so until then 80 mg per 100 ml of blood (35 µg per 100 ml of breath) is the limit in England and Wales.
How many units is that?
This is how the question is usually asked in Britain, and it is the one part of the table that has no answer. GOV.UK says so in as many words: “it’s impossible to say exactly how many drinks this equals — it’s different for each person.” Weight, age, sex, metabolism, what you have eaten and your stress levels all change where a given number of drinks puts you.
What can be stated is the arithmetic on either side of that gap. A UK unit is 8 g of pure alcohol (10 ml), which is smaller than the standard drink used in most other countries — 12 g in Sweden, 14 g in the USA. So a pint of 4 % beer is about 2.3 units, and a 175 ml glass of 13 % wine about 2.3 units.
What those units do to your blood alcohol is the part that varies between people, and it is why the limit is written as a measurement of your blood rather than as a number of drinks. Two people drinking the same two pints can end up on opposite sides of 80 mg.
Novice drivers almost always get a lower limit
The pattern in the table is consistent: where a country distinguishes between drivers, it is nearly always the newest ones who get the stricter rule. Germany and Italy require 0.0 during the probationary period, Austria and Switzerland 0.1, and a long list of countries 0.2.
Denmark changed its rules as recently as 1 July 2025: anyone holding a category B licence for less than three years now has a 0.2 ‰ limit rather than 0.5. The rule follows the age of the licence, not the driver — someone passing their test at fifty is covered too.
Professional drivers work to different numbers
Many countries set a lower limit for bus and lorry drivers than for private motorists, and some require zero while on duty. Those rules vary too much between countries and vehicle classes to reduce to a table — if you are driving for work, it is worth checking what applies in that specific country for your specific vehicle.
A limit is not an allowance
It is easy to read a table like this as a schedule of how much you may drink in each country. It is not.
A higher limit does not mean alcohol affects driving less in that country. Reaction time and judgement degrade measurably well below 0.5 ‰ — which is precisely why Sweden and Norway chose 0.2. The differences in the table reflect political decisions, not biology.
The same thing we say on the BAC calculator and in the guide to driving the day after applies here: no figure in an app or on a web page can tell you whether you are fit to drive. If you have been drinking, leave the car.
These numbers change
Drink-driving limits are politics, and politics moves. Denmark tightened its rule in 2025, Scotland lowered its limit in 2014, Spain voted down a reduction in March 2026, and Illinois is debating 0.05 %. This table is built on the ETSC’s Europe-wide comparison, supplemented with national sources for every country that has its own section above, checked in September 2026.
If you are driving somewhere the margin matters, check with that country’s own transport authority before you go. And remember the limit is only one of the rules: levels are checked by breath test, penalties differ sharply, and several countries can seize the vehicle on the spot.
Frequently asked questions
Which European country has the strictest drink-driving limit?
What is the drink-driving limit in Sweden?
Does my own country’s limit apply when I drive abroad?
Do novice drivers have a lower limit?
What is the legal BAC limit in the USA?
How many units of alcohol is the UK drink-drive limit?
What is the limit in the United Kingdom?
Keep track of your level wherever you drive
Mypromille follows your estimated blood alcohol level in real time while you drink, and can show a real measurement if you have a breathalyzer. Whatever limit applies where you are, it is easier to respect if you know roughly where you stand.
The app is available for iPhone, Android and straight in the browser.
Sources: ETSC — Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) Drink Driving Limits across Europe for the Europe-wide comparison; the Swedish Police and Trafikverket for Sweden; GOV.UK for the UK and Scotland, and the DfT consultation on motoring offences for the proposed change in England and Wales; NHTSA and the Utah Highway Safety Office for the USA; DGT for Spain; Sécurité routière for France; article 186-bis of the Codice della Strada for Italy; Rådet for Sikker Trafik for the Danish 2025 rule; the Bavarian Police for the German limits. Checked September 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.