More wine is drunk per person in the Vatican City than in any other country in the world, according to the latest statistics released by the Wine Institute. 
 
 The figures show that residents of the Vatican consume 74 litres of wine on average – roughly equivalent to 105 bottles over the course of a year. 
 
 That’s around double the amount drunk by the average person in France or Italy as a whole, and triple the quantity consumed in the UK. 
 
 There is no denying that the population of the Vatican represents an unusual, and rather uniform, demographic. 
 
 As well as the occupational hazard of being required to take ceremonial Communion wine, the National Catholic Reporter said Vatican residents are more likely to be old, male, highly educated and eat in larger groups – all factors that can contribute to greater wine consumption. 
 
 These aspects of the Vatican’s national character are more likely to put it at the top than simply its size alone – though other so-called microstates also featured prominently in the Wine Institute’s list. 
 
 The fact that it only has a population of around 800 people does make it easy for per-capita figures to be distorted by outlying groups, however – and in the Vatican there is reportedly a single supermarket supplying everyone with wine almost completely tax-free. ||||| Image copyright Getty Images 
 
 If your wine was served in a smaller glass, would you drink less of it? 
 
 That is the question being posed in a study, published in the BMJ, into the growing size of wine glasses. 
 
 University of Cambridge researchers found glass size grew from an average 66ml in the 1700s to 449ml today - a near sevenfold increase - and wine drinking nearly doubled from 1980-2004. 
 
 "When it comes to how much we drink, wine glass size probably does matter," says study author Prof Theresa Marteau. 
 
 The increase in the capacity of wine glasses has been more rapid since the 1990s. 
 
 The researchers think one reason for this could be that the demand for larger glasses by the US market was met by an increase in the size of glasses made in England. 
 
 'Highly plausible' 
 
 Pubs generally sell wine in measures of 125ml, 175ml and 250ml. 
 
 Wine writer Jancis Robinson is one of those who believes that larger glasses and higher consumption are likely to go hand in hand. 
 
 "I have long been a critic of the 175ml wine glass," she says. 
 
 "Not just because it encourages people to drink more than they intended, but also because white and pink wines tend to warm up in them, encouraging people to finish their contents before they get too warm to be refreshing." 
 
 But a British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) spokesman told the BBC that pubs must offer smaller measures so that customers had a choice. 
 
 Prof Marteau says that in the same way larger plates mean people eat more, evidence suggests a similar effect for wine glasses, although the researchers could not prove this. 
 
 "We speculate there are two main mechanisms: capacity - the larger a container, the more we pour into it, and perceptual - the same amount looks smaller in a larger container than a smaller one," she says. 
 
 "Given we often regulate our consumption in units such as one slice of cake or one cup of coffee, if we perceive we have not had a full glass of wine, this might lead to us having another glass." 
 
 Booze calculator: What's your drinking nationality? Find out how your drinking measures up to the average from countries around the world. 
 
 Prof Marteau and her team conducted experiments in three Cambridge bars to test the theory. 
 
 They increased glass sizes while leaving serving sizes the same. In two of the three bars, sales increased. 
 
 Image copyright ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM Image caption In the 1700s, you may have drunk your wine from an enamelled Jacobite portrait glass like this 
 
 While alcohol is the third leading risk factor for death and disability after smoking and obesity, according to Public Health England, levels of drinking have actually dropped in Britain. 
 
 A 2016 poll of nearly 8,000 Britons found that just under 60% had had a drink in the past week - the lowest rate since the survey began, in 2005. 
 
 Part of this could be down to a campaign to remove a billion units of alcohol from the market in various ways. 
 
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 However, there is a practical reason for serving wine in different size glasses - to affect its taste and quality. 
 
 Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, told the BBC: "Red wine, for example, is served in a larger glass to allow it to breathe, something which perhaps wasn't a priority 300 years ago. 
 
 "It is widely recognised that moderate and responsible consumption of alcohol is compatible with a healthy lifestyle." 
 
 Mr Beale added that in the past decade, "volume sales of wine in Britain have declined by 6%, and the volume of wine consumed per person has dropped 10%". 
 
 Image caption Seven standard 175ml glasses of wine is the weekly recommended limit 
 
 Rosanna O'Connor, director of alcohol and drugs at Public Health England, told the BBC: "It's important people understand how much alcohol is in what they drink, some glasses of wine can contain as many as three units. 
 
 "We recommend people try to follow the advice of the UK Chief Medical Officers and not to drink regularly more than 14 units a week." ||||| In the 1700s the average-sized wine glass could hold just 66ml of the tipple. Today it’s not unusual to be handed a glass that holds almost half a litre 
 
 Size does matter: wine glasses are seven times larger than they used to be 
 
 Our Georgian and Victorian ancestors may have enjoyed a Christmas tipple but judging by the size of the glasses they used they probably drank less wine than we do today. 
 
 Scientists at the University of Cambridge have found that the capacity of wine glasses has ballooned nearly seven-fold over the past 300 years, rising most sharply in the last two decades in line with a surge in wine consumption. 
 
 Wine glasses have swelled in size from an average capacity of 66ml in the early 1700s to 449ml today, the study reveals – a change that may have encouraged us to drink far more than is healthy. Indeed, a typical wine glass 300 years ago would only have held about a half of today’s smallest “official” measure of 125ml. 
 
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 In the first UK analysis of its kind, the university’s behaviour and health research unit quizzed antique experts and examined 18th-century glasses held at the Ashmolean museum in Oxford, glassware used at Buckingham Palace, and more recent glasses in John Lewis catalogues. The evidence was clear: the newer glasses were bigger. 
 
 The study, published on Wednesday in the BMJ, measured wine glass capacity from 1700 to the present day to help understand whether any changes in their size might have contributed to the rise in wine consumption. 
 
 “Wine will no doubt be a feature of some merry Christmas nights, but when it comes to how much we drink, wine glass size probably does matter,” said Prof Theresa Marteau, director of the Behaviour and Health Research Unit at the University of Cambridge, who led the research. 
 
 In 2016, Marteau and her colleagues carried out an experiment at the Pint Shop in Cambridge, altering the size of wine glasses while keeping the serving sizes the same. They found this led to an almost 10% increase in sales. 
 
 For the new study, the researchers obtained measurements of 411 glasses from 1700 to the modern day. They found wine glass capacity increased from 66ml in the 1700s to 417ml in the 2000s, with the mean wine glass size in 2016-17 even higher at 449ml. 
 
 “Wine glasses became a common receptacle from which wine was drunk around 1700,” says first author Dr Zorana Zupan. “This followed the development of lead crystal glassware by George Ravenscroft in the late 17th century, which led to the manufacture of less fragile and larger glasses than was previously possible.” 
 
 The paper points out that alcohol is the fifth largest risk factor for premature mortality and disability in high income countries. In England, the type of alcohol and volume consumed has fluctuated over the last 300 years, in response to economic, legislative and social factors. Significantly, wine consumption increased almost fourfold between 1960 and 1980, and almost doubled again between 1980 and 2004, a trend attributed to better marketing and licensing liberalisation which allowed supermarkets to compete in the lucrative drinks retail business. 
 
 “Our findings suggest that the capacity of wine glasses in England increased significantly over the past 300 years,” added Zupan. “Since the 1990s, the size has increased rapidly. Whether this led to the rise in wine consumption in England, we can’t say for certain, but a wine glass 300 years ago would only have held about a half of today’s small measure.” 
 
 The strength of wine sold in the UK has also increased since the 1990s, adding to the amount of pure alcohol being consumed by wine drinkers. 
 
 Q&A Large wine glasses: fashion or marketing ploy? Show Hide It’s the pubs’ and bars’ equivalent of supermarkets putting sweets by the checkout. The fashion for larger glasses – whether they are filled to the top or not – simply encourages people to drink (and spend) more than they need. Larger, stylish wine glasses can also increase the pleasure from drinking wine, which may also increase the desire to drink more. In England, the type of alcohol and volume consumed has fluctuated over the last 300 years, largely in response to economic, legislative and social factors. Until the second half of the 20th century, beer and spirits (often watered down) were the most common forms of alcohol consumed, with wine generally the tipple of the upper classes. In the 1930s and 1940s fortified wines were popular but wine took off when package holidays introduced Britons to exotic European tastes and law changes allowed UK supermarkets to compete in the sector. Alcohol strength has also gone up significantly due to the public’s taste for riper, softer wines that are ready to drink. Wines like Bordeaux and Rioja that used to be about 12.5%-13% abv are often now 14% or more. 
 
 In England, wine is increasingly served in pubs and bars in 250ml servings, with smaller measures of 125ml often absent from wine lists or menus despite a regulatory requirement that licensees make customers aware of them. 
 
 The Wine and Spirits Trade Association said sociological trends were probably part of the reason for the growing wine glasses. 
 
 “The size of a wine glass reflects the trend and fashions of the time and is often larger for practical reasons” said the WSTA chief executive Miles Beale. “Red wine, for example, is served in a larger glass to allow it to breathe, something which perhaps wasn’t a priority 300 years ago.”
– If you're a big fan of wine and would like to be surrounded by apparently like-minded people, consider moving to Vatican City. Despite its small size, or perhaps because of it, it manages to consume more wine per capita than any other country, according to the Wine Institute. How much exactly? At 74 liters of wine per person, double Italy's consumption, Religion News Service reports—and in terms of major countries, Italy is one of the top two wine consumers. That amount translates to about 105 bottles of wine per resident per year, the Independent notes. And no, this doesn't hinge around all that communion wine. As local media have pointed out, the number is probably so high because Vatican residents are, in general, older, male, and highly educated, and they eat communal meals. All of those factors tend to increase wine consumption. And with a population of just 800, those numbers are easily skewed by outliers. Oh yeah, and then there's the fact that just one store sells wine in the Vatican—and the wine is practically tax-free.