Beer: The Facts

Alcohol Consumption in Australia

Alcohol consumption in Australia has been falling for almost 50 years and there has been considerable progress in reducing risky consumption. Australians are reducing the frequency of their drinking and the amount they drink on each occasion. When they do drink the average number of standard drinks consumed is well within the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) recommended limits of 4 standard drinks.

  • Alcohol consumption in Australia peaked at 13.1 litres of pure alcohol per person in 1974-75. Since then, consumption had fallen by 25 per cent to 9.51 litres per capita in 2017-18 (ABS, Apparent Consumption of Alcohol, 2017-2018). In beer terms this represents a drop in consumption of around 140 pints a year of full-strength beer. 
  • The frequency of people’s consumption has also declined dramatically over the past three decades. The percentage of people drinking daily almost halved between 1991 and 2019 from 10.2 per cent to 5.4 per cent (AIHW, National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019).
  • The percentage of people drinking weekly also fell from 41 per cent to 34.9 per cent over the same period (AIHW, National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019).
  • The percentage of Australians drinking at risky levels has also declined. The percentage of people drinking at risky levels over a sustained 12-month period fell from 20.8 per cent to 16.8 per cent between 2007 and 2019 (AIHW, National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019).
  • 31.6 per cent of drinkers in 2019 had reduced the amount they drunk each time they consumed alcohol, 31.8 per cent reduced the number of times they consumed alcohol and 6.2 per cent had switched to lower alcohol products (up from 5.1 per cent in 2010) (AIHW, National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019).
  • The average number of standard drinks consumed by people on their most recent drinking occasion is 3.4 (AIHW, National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019). Well within the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) recommended limits of 4 standard drinks.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Apparent Consumption of Alcohol, Australia 2017–18 financial year 0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 Total per capita consumption of pure alcohol(a) Total per capita consumption (L)

Beer Consumption

Within the broad trend of declining consumption, consumer choices between categories has shifted profoundly. The proportion of beer consumed has declined whilst wine and spirits consumption has increased. 

  • Australians still love a beer, drinking the equivalent of just over 2.5 billion pints of domestically produced and retailed beer in 2020-21 with a total retail value of around $17 billion (ACIL Allen, Economic Contribution of the Australian Brewing Industry: 2019-20).
  • Per capita consumption of pure alcohol from beer has dropped by over 30 per cent in the past 25 years (ABS, Apparent Consumption of Alcohol, 2017-2018).
  • Mid-strength, low strength and zero alcohol beer now account for almost 30 per cent of total beer sales volume. The two largest beer brands in Australia are mid strength brands (XXXX Gold and Great Northern).
  • The proportion of people drinking mid strength beer as their usual alcoholic drink has increased from 22.1 per cent in 2001 to 24.9 per cent in 2019 (AIHW, National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019).

Underage Drinking

The past two decades have seen massive improvements in relation to underage drinking with a significant reduction in the proportion of under 18-year olds who drink and in the number who drink at risky levels.

  • The proportion of people aged 14–17 who have never consumed a full serve of alcohol in their lifetime increased from 27.9 per cent in 2001 to 66.2 per cent in 2019 (AIHW, National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019).
  • For underage people who have consumed alcohol the average age at which they first consumed an alcoholic drink increased from 14 years and 7 months in 2001 to 16 years and 2 months in 2019 (AIHW, National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019).
  • Risky drinking amongst under 18s has dropped significantly over the last two decades. The proportion of 14-17 year olds drinking on average more than two standard drinks per day (lifetime risk) fell from 13.3 per cent in 2001 to 2.2 per cent in 2019 (AIHW, National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019).
  • The proportion of 14-17 year olds who consumed more than 4 standard drinks on one occasion at least once a month (single occasion risk) fell from 30.2 per cent in 2001 to 8.9 per cent in 2019 (AIHW, National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019).
(a) Spirits includes Ready to Drink (pre–mixed) beverages. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Apparent Consumption of Alcohol, Australia 2017–18 financial year 0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00 80.00 1960–61 1962–63 1964–65 1966–67 1968–69 1970–71 1972–73 1974–75 1976–77 1978–79 1980–81 1982–83 1984–85 1986–87 1988–89 1990–91 1992–93 1994–95 1996–97 1998–99 2000–01 2002–03 2004–05 2006–07 2008–09 2010–11 2012–13 2014–15 2016–17 Beverage type as a proportion of alcohol Beer (%) Wine (%) Spirits(a) (%)