BEER
In 2016-17 there were 72.8 million litres of pure alcohol available for consumption in Australia in the form of beer, a decrease of 3.4% from 2015-16 (75.3 million litres). In per capita terms, Australians aged 15 years and over consumed an average 3.7 litres of alcohol from beer in 2016-17, which was 5% less than the previous year and 11% less than in 2011-12, continuing the long-term downward trend.
Full strength beer made up 80.1% of all pure alcohol in beer available for consumption in 2016-17, followed by mid strength beer (17.6%) and low strength beer (2.3%). Over the five years to 2016-17, the share of alcohol from beer that was mid strength increased from 14.3% to 17.6%, as alcohol from low strength and full strength varieties declined.
TABLE 2: BEER, Pure alcohol available for consumption
|
| Year ended 30 June | Low strength(a) | Mid strength(a) | Full strength(a) | Total |
|
VOLUME OF PURE ALCOHOL ('000 litres) |
|
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017 | 2 977
2 710
2 418
1 996
1 856
1 672 | 10 395
10 769
11 453
11 165
12 236
12 783 | 62 214
61 638
61 992
58 941
61 279
58 323 | 75 585
75 116
75 862
72 102
75 371
72 778 |
|
PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF PURE ALCOHOL(b) (litres) |
|
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017 | 0.16
0.15
0.13
0.10
0.10
0.08 | 0.57
0.58
0.61
0.58
0.63
0.65 | 3.41
3.31
3.28
3.07
3.15
2.95 | 4.14
4.04
4.01
3.76
3.87
3.68 |
|
(a) See paragraph 15 of the Explanatory Notes for definitions of low, mid and full strength beer.
(b) Litres per person aged 15 years and over. |
The volume of beer available for consumption decreased 4.6% between 2015-16 and 2016-17, from 1,742.4 million litres to 1,661.5 million litres.
The 4.6% fall in the volume of beer consumed (as a beverage) was a faster decrease than the 3.4% fall in the volume of alcohol from beer because the average alcohol content of full strength beer increased over the period. See Explanatory Note 15 for more information on beer alcohol content.
TABLE 3: BEER, Volume available for consumption
|
| Year ended 30 June | Low strength(a) | Mid strength(a) | Full strength(a) | Total |
|
VOLUME ('000 litres) |
|
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017 | 113 298
102 655
93 366
75 861
70 628
69 693 | 296 856
307 815
328 885
319 046
349 746
369 978 | 1 352 258
1 319 621
1 324 729
1 265 599
1 322 014
1 221 860 | 1 762 411
1 730 091
1 746 979
1 660 505
1 742 389
1 661 531 |
|
PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION(b) (litres) |
|
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017 | 6.20
5.52
4.94
3.95
3.62
3.52 | 16.26
16.55
17.39
16.62
17.95
18.70 | 74.05
70.95
70.05
65.92
67.85
61.74 | 96.51
93.02
92.38
86.49
89.43
83.96 |
|
(a) See paragraph 15 of the Explanatory Notes for definitions of low, mid and full strength beer.
(b) Litres per person aged 15 years and over. |
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