The world is boozing less, except for this continent

The world downed less alcohol last year, the first time global consumption has fallen in more than a decade. But such moderation wasn't across the board, as people in North America guzzled more booze.

Research released this week by Euromonitor International found a 0.7 percent decline in global alcohol consumption in 2015. That amounts to 449 million fewer gallons of alcoholic drinks than in 2014.

People in China, Brazil and Eastern Europe all reduced their intake of alcohol, with Chinese downing 3.5 percent less, Brazilians curbing their consumption by 2.5 percent and Eastern Europeans cutting back by 4.9 percent.

In Western Europe and Australasia, drinking stayed level. Meantime, North Americans drank 2.3 percent more last year than they did in 2014.

"Premium English gin, Irish and Japanese whiskey, dark and non-alcoholic beer are the flag bearers of growth and it is no coincidence that those also happen to be the segments gaining further momentum with the ever important millennial demographic in mature western markets," Spiros Malandrakis, senior alcoholic drinks analyst at Euromonitor said in a news release.

Around the world, cognac saw the fastest growth, while consumption of tequila and bourbon was steady. Losing the most market reach were rum and vodka.

But the dry landscape will gradually get less so from 2016 onwards, Euromonitor offered in a preliminary forecast.