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Bringing Alcohol Into a Country — What Each Destination Requires

What's allowed, limited, or prohibited for alcohol in every destination we've verified, cited to each country's own customs authority.

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  • Albania
    • allowed, within limits — Duty-free per traveler 17 or older: 1 litre of spirits over 22% ABV, OR 2 litres of beverages up to 22% ABV and sparkling wines, PLUS (separately) 2 litres of still wine and 10 litres of beer. "No relief for alcohol and tobacco shall be granted to travellers under 17 years old."

      Quoted directly from the General Directorate of Customs' own traveler page. Amounts above this are dutiable and must be declared.

      Checked 2026-09-22 — General Directorate of Customs (Republic of Albania) — Tobacco, alcoholic drinks and coffee

  • Australia
    • allowed, within limits — 2.25 litres of alcoholic beverages duty-free per traveller aged 18 or over, regardless of where or how purchased; no concession for travellers under 18

      Exceeding the limit means duty/tax applies to all alcohol carried, not just the excess.

      Checked 2026-08-12 — Australian Border Force — Duty free

  • Brazil
    • allowed, within limits — Duty-free allowance for alcoholic beverages carried in accompanied baggage or purchased at an arrival duty-free shop.

      Allowance is per traveler aged 18 or over and cannot be pooled across family members; travelers under 18 may not purchase alcohol even if accompanied by a guardian. The duty-free shop purchase quota resets on a 30-day rolling basis. Amounts above the limit are subject to import tax at standard rates.

      Checked 2026-09-02 — Receita Federal do Brasil – Guia do Viajante: Cota de isenção, duty free e bagagem tributável

  • Canada
    • allowed, within limits — Up to 1.5 litres of wine, 1.14 litres of spirits, or 8.5 litres of beer/ale duty-free

      This duty-free allowance is generally tied to how long you were away before arriving; if in doubt, declare and ask the CBSA officer. Provincial minimum age applies.

      Checked 2026-08-10 — CBSA — Alcohol and tobacco limits

  • China
  • Cyprus
    • allowed, within limits — Duty-free from outside the EU: 1 litre of drinks over 22% alcohol (or undenatured ethyl alcohol of 80% vol. and over), or 2 litres of drinks not over 22%; plus 4 litres of still wine and 16 litres of beer. Travellers under 17 get no alcohol allowance. Anything over the allowance must be declared in the red channel.

      These are the EU allowances for travellers entering the EU from a non-EU country (Your Europe, europa.eu), which Cyprus Customs lists as its general allowances. Other goods (not alcohol/tobacco) are duty-free up to €430 per person (€175 for travellers under 15, per Cyprus Customs).

      Checked 2026-10-02 — Cyprus Customs & Excise Department — Travellers: dual channel system and general allowances

  • Egypt
    • allowed, within limits — One litre of alcoholic beverages (spirits) duty-free in accompanied personal baggage, per the Egyptian Customs Authority's published passenger exemptions for tourists/transit arrivals and returning residents alike.

      Separately, purchases made at duty-free shops inside the customs area within 48 hours of arrival carry a different, larger allowance: tourists/transit passengers may buy up to USD 200 total, including up to 3 litres of spirits (the first and second litre taxed at 1% of the duty otherwise owed, the third litre at 25%, minimum USD 13 per litre or equivalent), with 1 litre of spirits swappable for 1 carton of beer; this exemption is granted at most 4 times per calendar year and requires the passport holder to be physically present. Returning residents get a USD 300 duty-free-shop allowance with a 1-litre spirits cap, at most twice per year. No minimum-age requirement for the alcohol allowance was stated on the source page used here.

      Checked 2026-08-12 — Egyptian Customs Authority (Ministry of Finance) — Legislations: Travel & Tourism / Passengers, under Customs Law No. 207 of 2020 and its Executive Regulations (Minister of Finance Decree No. 430 of 2021)

  • Georgia
    • allowed, within limits — Duty-free for passengers aged 18 or over, in hand luggage/baggage for personal or family use or as a gift, per 30 calendar days: 1 litre of spirits of 22% ABV or higher (or undenatured ethyl alcohol of 80% or higher), OR 2 litres of alcoholic beverages under 22% ABV, OR a combination of those two kinds within their percentage shares (beer and wine excepted from the combination); PLUS 4 litres of wine AND 16 litres of beer.

      Quoted from the Revenue Service's own brochure. It states the allowances "per 30 calendar days" for goods entering through land and marine checkpoints; the air-checkpoint paragraph prints "per calendar days" (the "30" appears to have been dropped), and the brochure states the same volumes for air, so treat 30 days as the intended period but confirm at the airport if you're near the limit. Anything above the allowance is dutiable and must be declared.

      Checked 2026-09-21 — Revenue Service of Georgia — Exemption from import duties and the obligation of declaring goods carried by an individual (customs brochure)

  • Hong Kong
    • allowed, within limits — "A passenger aged 18 or above is allowed to bring into Hong Kong, for his own use, 1 litre of alcoholic liquor with an alcoholic strength above 30% by volume" duty-free (measured at 20℃). Hong Kong ID card holders must have spent 24 hours or more outside Hong Kong to claim it.

      The 1-litre concession only matters for spirits: Hong Kong's duty schedule charges 0% on wine and on liquor other than wine of 30% ABV or less, so beer and wine aren't dutiable. Passengers who fail to declare, or make a false or incomplete declaration of, dutiable goods above the concession are liable to prosecution under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance.

      Checked 2026-09-21 — Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department — Duty-free Concessions

  • India
    • allowed, within limits — Up to 2 litres of alcoholic liquor or wine are included within the traveller's general Duty Free Allowance. Quantities beyond 2 litres are dutiable at 150% (whisky) / 110% (beer) or the applicable tariff rate.

      The 2-litre alcohol allowance is bundled inside the same overall Duty Free Allowance as the tobacco allowance and general goods value cap (Rs. 50,000 for most tourists), not a separate standalone allowance.

      Checked 2026-08-13 — Chennai Customs Zone (CBIC) — Passenger Clearance FAQ (duty-free allowances, prohibited/restricted goods)

  • Indonesia
  • Ireland
    • allowed, within limits — From outside the EU (including the UK): 1 litre of spirits, or 2 litres of other alcoholic drinks up to 22% alcohol (e.g. port, sherry, sparkling wine, some liqueurs), plus 4 litres of still wine and 16 litres of beer. You can split the spirits/other-drinks allowance fractionally (e.g. 0.5 litres of spirits and 1 litre of port). Customs Duty, Excise Duty and VAT apply to anything above the allowance.

      Applies to travellers aged 17 or over (Revenue/Citizens Information: "You are not entitled to alcohol or tobacco allowances if you are under 17"). This is Ireland's own Revenue guidance for arrivals from outside the EU (including Great Britain). Reduced allowances apply to transport crews (0.35 L spirits, 0.75 L still wine, 4 L beer). Arrivals from within the EU follow different rules.

      Checked 2026-09-21 — Revenue (Ireland) — Duty-free allowances (travelling from outside the EU)

  • Japan
  • Kenya
  • Malaysia
    • allowed, within limits — Wine, spirits, beer or malt liquor: not exceeding 1 litre in total is exempt from customs duty/tax, for travellers entering by air or any other mode of transport. Anything above that is dutiable and must be declared in the Red Lane.

      Per the Customs Department's Traveler's Guide list of goods exempt from duty/tax. The page does not state the rules on alcohol for Muslim travellers or any minimum-age rule, and those were not checked.

      Checked 2026-09-21 — Royal Malaysian Customs Department — Traveler's Guide

  • Maldives
    • prohibited

      The airport operator's customs page states: "All alcohol is confiscated on arrival, including duty-free purchases from departure airports or in-flight"; prohibited items other than narcotics are released to foreign nationals only when they leave. The Maldives consulate page adds that prior licences are required to import alcohol and that alcohol is only available at tourist resorts and hotels (none is sold in Malé or on inhabited islands). UK FCDO warns you can be arrested and deported for possessing or drinking alcohol, or being intoxicated, outside resorts and on inhabited islands — do not take alcohol out of your resort.

      Checked 2026-09-21 — Maldives Airports Company — Velana International Airport: Customs & Security, Prohibited & Restricted Items

  • Mexico
    • allowed, within limits — Adults (18+) may bring up to 3 liters of spirits/liquor plus 6 liters of wine duty-free as part of personal baggage; alcoholic beverages cannot be counted toward the separate USD 500 general merchandise franchise.

      No alcohol allowance for travelers under 18.

      Checked 2026-08-12 — ANAM (Agencia Nacional de Aduanas de México) — Equipaje y franquicia

  • Morocco
  • New Zealand
    • allowed, within limits — Duty-free personal allowance for travellers 17 years or older: up to 4.5 litres of wine or beer (equivalent to six 750ml bottles), PLUS up to 3 bottles/containers of spirits or liqueur not exceeding 1.125 litres each.

      Must be 17 or older to claim the concession. Amounts above these limits must be declared and are subject to Customs duty and GST; alcohol is always dutiable regardless of value (the general NZ$1000 duty-free threshold for goods does not apply to alcohol or tobacco).

      Checked 2026-08-18 — New Zealand Customs Service — Duty-free shopping (personal allowances)

  • Nigeria
    • allowed, within limits — Spirits up to 1 litre and wine up to 1 litre, duty-free, under the Nigeria Customs Service's passenger baggage concessions for consumable goods

      customs.gov.ng is a JavaScript-rendered single-page site protected by Cloudflare that returned only an empty app shell to direct automated fetches; this figure was confirmed via a Wayback Machine (web.archive.org) snapshot of the same official page's rendered content, cross-checked against a current Google search-index snippet of the live page quoting identical figures — the URL cited is the live, human-browsable customs.gov.ng page.

      Checked 2026-08-12 — Nigeria Customs Service — Passenger's Concessions

  • Philippines
    • allowed, within limits — Duty- and tax-free allowance for arriving travelers is two (2) bottles of liquor with a combined value of less than PHP 10,000. Amounts beyond this are subject to duties/taxes and must be declared.

      Allowance applies per traveler under Bureau of Customs guidelines (CAO 01-2017 framework); goods must be for personal use, not commercial quantities.

      Checked 2026-08-18 — Bureau of Customs Philippines - Guidelines on Arriving Travelers

  • Rwanda
  • Saudi Arabia
    • prohibited

      Alcohol of any kind is fully prohibited in Saudi Arabia — it may not be imported, sold, purchased, or consumed anywhere in the Kingdom. Saudi customs officially lists 'alcohol and drugs of all kinds' among prohibited items; possession/importation can lead to seizure, fines, and imprisonment. This is confirmed both by Saudi Arabia's own customs authority (ZATCA) and by the U.S. International Trade Administration's official country commercial guide, which lists alcohol among goods whose importation Saudi law prohibits outright.

      Checked 2026-09-02 — ZATCA (Saudi Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority) – Traveler disclosure & prohibited items guidance

  • Serbia
    • allowed, within limits — Quoted directly from Customs: "1 liter of spirits or 1 liter of sparkling and liqueur wines or suitable combination of mentioned drinks and 1 liter of other wines" may be brought duty-free as personal luggage. Beer and olive oil have no precisely defined quantity, but Customs states it "must be obviously intended for personal use and not for resale."

      This is the personal-luggage exemption, not a hard cap — goods above the duty-free allowance can still be brought in but are subject to duty/VAT (10% flat rate at the border if the total value of dutiable goods is under EUR 3,000; regular customs procedure above that).

      Checked 2026-09-22 — Customs Administration of the Republic of Serbia — Passenger Customs Clearance FAQ (Tourists)

  • Singapore
    • allowed, within limits — Duty-free liquor concession applies only if you are 18+, have spent 48 hours or more outside Singapore immediately before arrival, and are not arriving from Malaysia. Pick one combination totalling the concession.

      All liquor of 0.5% ABV or more must be declared. Travellers under 18, those who don't meet the 48-hour/non-Malaysia conditions, or amounts beyond the concession must use the Red Channel and pay duty plus GST on the full quantity carried (not just the excess).

      Checked 2026-09-02 — Singapore Customs - Duty-Free Concession and GST Import Relief

  • South Africa
  • Taiwan
    • allowed, within limits — Inward passengers aged 18 or over may bring in "alcoholic beverage 1.5 liters or less" duty-free. Above that, up to a total of 5 liters may be brought in with duty paid. Alcohol from Mainland China is treated more strictly: "limited to only 1 liter of controlled alcoholic beverage imported from Mainland China" even within the paid-duty allowance.

      Passengers exceeding the duty-free limit but within the 5-liter ceiling must use the Red Channel and pay duty rather than being refused entry outright; amounts above 5 liters in total are not addressed on this page.

      Checked 2026-09-22 — Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance (Taiwan) — Regulations for Inbound Passengers Carrying Tobacco or Liquor

  • Thailand
  • Turkey
  • United Arab Emirates
    • allowed, within limits — Alcoholic beverages not exceeding 4 litres, or 2 cartons of beer (each carton up to 24 cans of up to 355 mL per can), duty-free per traveler aged 18 or over. Excess quantity is confiscated rather than merely taxed.

      No alcohol allowance for travelers under 18 — cigarettes, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages are not permitted entry at all for under-18s, per the guide.

      Checked 2026-08-13 — Dubai Customs — Passenger Customs Guide, Version 6 (2025)

  • United Kingdom
  • United States
    • allowed, within limits — 1 liter of alcoholic beverages duty-free per adult nonresident visitor

      Checked 2026-08-10 — 19 CFR §148.43

  • Vietnam