Aussie alcohol consumption lowest since 1961 – Data

CANBERRA: Australians are consuming less alcohol per capita than at any point in more than 50 years, Xinhua news agency data has revealed.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Australians drank 185.8 million litres of pure alcohol in 2016-17, down from 188.2 million litres the previous year.

Australians over the age of 15 consumed 9.39 litres of pure alcohol each, the lowest figure since 1960-61.

“This is the lowest annual figure since 1961-62 and it continues the recent downward trend which started around 2008-09,” Louise Gates, ABS Director of Health Statistics said in a media release yesterday.

“Over three-quarters of alcohol consumed was from either beer (39 per cent) or wine (38 per cent). And while alcohol consumed from wine has declined recently, the drop in beer consumption has been the main driver for falling alcohol consumption with an average decline of 2.4 per cent per year over the last 10 years.”

However, when the one-fifth of Australians who do not drink alcohol are accounted for, the average pure alcohol consumption rises to 12 litres per year per person older than 15.

‘Pure alcohol’ is defined as the alcohol content of an alcoholic beverage.

“Using the average consumption levels for each category, the 9.4 litres of pure alcohol can be expressed as the average Australian aged 15 and over consuming the equivalent of 224 bottles (375 ml) of beer, 38 bottles (750ml) of wine, 17 bottles (375ml) of cider, four bottles (700ml) of spirits and 33 cans (375ml) of premixed ready to drink varieties,” said Gates.

“If 224 bottles sound like a lot, contrast that with 1974-75 when Australia reached ‘peak beer’ and the consumption was equivalent to over 500 bottles per person.”