What Is a Standard Drink in New Zealand?

In New Zealand, a standard drink contains 10 grams of pure alcohol — regardless of whether it comes from beer, wine or spirits.

New Zealand defines a standard drink as any drink containing 10 grams of pure alcohol. This is the unit used on drink-driving guidance, health messaging, and the standard-drink counts printed on packaging.

Why a fixed unit matters

Because different drinks have wildly different volumes and strengths, "one drink" is a meaningless comparison on its own — a large glass of low-strength beer and a small shot of spirits can contain very different amounts of alcohol. Standard drinks put everything on the same scale.

Roughly how it translates to spirits

For a spirit at around 40% ABV, roughly 30ml (a standard bar shot / nip) works out to close to one standard drink. Because pure ethanol has a known density, you can estimate standard drinks with:

standard drinks ≈ (volume in mL × %ABV) / 1000

For example, 30ml of a 40% ABV spirit: (30 × 40) / 1000 = 1.2 standard drinks.

Where you'll see it

New Zealand packaging is required to display the number of standard drinks in a container. This is separate from the ABV percentage — ABV tells you the strength, while standard drinks tell you the total amount of alcohol in that particular bottle or can.