Distillers Bhutan
A one-page guide to Bhutan for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Thimphu
- Official languages
- Dzongkha
- Currency
- Bhutanese ngultrum (BTN), fixed to the Indian rupee
- Time zone
- UTC+6
- Area
- 38,390 km²
People
- Population
- 796,682 (2025)
- Population growth
- 0.6% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 43.4%
- Aged under 15
- 20.4%
- Aged 65 and over
- 6.6%
- Life expectancy
- 73.3 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$3.6 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$4,493 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 8.01% (2025)
- Inflation
- 3.56% (2025)
Climate
Varies with elevation: subtropical south, temperate highlands, snow in the far north. Five seasons (summer, monsoon, autumn, winter, spring); the west gets heavier monsoon rain.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- Purchase age 18
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 3.08 litres of pure alcohol (2024)
- Traditional drinks
- Ara (home-made rice or maize spirit)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); World Bank API (population, area, GDP, growth, inflation); WHO GHO OData (SA_0000001688); UN Comtrade public preview API (HS 2208); Wikipedia: Bhutan; Wikipedia: Legal drinking age; Wikipedia: Alcohol in Bhutan; Samtse Distillery / Army Welfare Project - rum.cz. Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.