A recent study published in the Journal of Health Economics has found that raising the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) from 16 to 18 in several Spanish regions resulted in reduced teenage alcohol consumption and improved academic performance.
The research focused on reforms implemented between 2003 and 2019 in Castile and Leon, Galicia, Asturias, and the Balearic Islands. These changes were part of a broader trend across Europe over the past two decades, where many countries have increased their MLDA from 16 to 18 as a measure to limit minors’ access to alcohol.
Alcohol use among European teenagers remains higher than elsewhere. Nearly half of European adolescents aged 15 to 16 reported drinking alcohol in the previous month, with about one-third engaging in binge drinking during that time. In comparison, only around 12% of U.S. teens aged 14 to 17 drank alcohol during a similar period.
The study used data from Spain’s High School Survey on Drug Use and educational performance statistics from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). It applied a difference-in-differences approach to analyze outcomes before and after MLDA reforms.
According to the findings, after raising the MLDA to 18, underage youth found it somewhat more difficult to purchase alcohol directly—particularly in bars—but most still accessed it through adults. Parental attitudes toward youth drinking remained unchanged; however, more young people recognized heavy drinking as problematic.
"Raising the MLDA from 16 to 18 in Spain led to a decrease in underage drinking, which was consistent across age, gender, and region."
Academic performance improved following these policy changes. "The MLDA changes improved educational outcomes, raising average PISA scores by about 4% of a standard deviation." The improvement was greater among children whose parents had higher education levels; this group also saw larger reductions in alcohol use.
The study noted that while there were modest improvements in mental-health–related outcomes—such as lower use of anxiety or sleep medications—there was no significant impact on secondary school completion rates or use of other substances like tobacco or cannabis. There was some indication of increased college attendance among affected cohorts.
Researchers highlighted that these results were not driven by changes in school resources or student effort but appeared linked directly to reduced access to alcohol for minors.
These findings suggest stricter enforcement of MLDA laws could be an effective way for European countries with high adolescent drinking rates to improve student well-being at relatively low cost.
