Australian alcohol consumption hits 50-year low

Australians are drinking less alcohol now than any time in the past 50 years, with consumption of alcohol per person dropping to levels not seen since the 1960s, according to data released by the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Australians are drinking less than they were in the 1960s.

Official data released on Monday showed that 186 million litres of pure alcohol were consumed across the nation in 2016-17, the lowest figure since 1961-62.

This equates to 9.4 litres of pure alcohol for every person aged 15 years or more, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said – or the equivalent, on average, of 224 stubbies of beer, 38 bottles of wine, 17 bottles of cider, 33 cans of pre-mixed drinks and four bottles of spirits.

“This is the lowest annual figure since 1961-62 and it continues the recent downward trend which started around 2008-09,” said Louise Gates, ABS Director of Health Statistics, adding: “If 224 stubbies sounds like a lot, contrast that with 1974-75 when Australia reached ‘peak beer’ and the consumption was equivalent to over 500 stubbies per person.”

A drop in the amount of beer drunk has been the biggest contributor to the overall fall in the year. Australians downed 3.4% less pure alcohol from beer, or 2.6m litres, in 2016-17, compared with the year before.

But beer was still the drink most favoured by Australians, accounting for 39% of all alcohol consumed in the year.

Wine was a close second, accounting for 38% of pure alcohol, followed by spirits (13.1%), ready-to-drink beverages (6%) and cider (3.4%).

The figures, which are based on the amount of alcohol available for consumption across the nation, mean they can overestimate the alcohol consumed because they do not account for storage or waste. However, they can also underestimate the true level of alcohol drunk by each Australian, given about a fifth simply do not drink at all.

“If you keep in mind that around one in five Australians drink very rarely or not at all, that’s quite a lot for the rest of us, notwithstanding the amounts discarded or used for non-drinking purposes”, added Gates.