A new report released by IBISWorld this week, predicts that alcohol consumption in Australia will reach an all-time low in 2016-17. Researchers are estimating figures that will put consumption at the lowest it's been in the last 50 years.
Alcohol consumption in Australia has been consistently declining over the last few years. Now, IBISWorld expects per capita alcohol consumption will decrease by a further 0.8 per cent over 2016-17, to 9.37 litres per capita. And that trend is also forecasted to continue, with alcohol consumption in Australia anticipated to decline to 8.54 litres per capita by 2023-24.
IBISWorld Senior Industry Analyst, Andrew Ledovskikh, said: “Domestic per capita consumption of beer, wine and spirits has slumped to a 55 year low, largely as a result of government legislation and increasing health consciousness among consumers."
According to IBISWorld, while Australia's wine producers have found growth through export demand, particularly in Asian markets, little export exposure for beer producers has forced them to rely on the challenging domestic market.
“Unlike the wine production industry, local beer brewers produce almost exclusively for the domestic market. This has compounded the effect of declining alcohol consumption for brewing companies,” said Mr Ledovskikh.
IBISWorld said that that beer industry is expected to decline by an annualised 0.7 per cent over the five years through 2016-17.
It's not all doom and gloom, however, with craft beer providing a silver lining for beer manufacturers, according to IBISWorld. The craft beer industry is expected to grow by an annualised 11.7 per cent over the five years through 2016-17, valuing at $454.2 million.
IBISWorld said this new growth could help to offset some of the declines in the consumption of traditional mainstream beer brands.
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