ABS stats show alcohol consumption up for the first time in nine years

COULD you drink just over a can and a half of beer every day for a year? Or, for the wine drinkers, 11 glasses of white a week or 89 bottles of red in a year?

Kahlia Jones, 21, thinks 9.7 litres of pure alcohol isn't much to drink in a year. Picture: MICHAEL FRANCHI

COULD you drink just over a can and a half of beer every day for a year?

Or, for the wine drinkers, 11 glasses of white a week or 89 bottles of red in a year?

If so, you’re like the rest of Australia who drank on average 9.7 litres of pure alcohol in 2015-16. It was the first time in almost a decade that alcohol consumption had risen across the country, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics results.

IBISWorld senior industry analyst James Thomson said beer consumption was the driving force behind the recent rise in alcohol consumption.

“Beer consumption is expected to rise from 3.76L per capita in 2014-15 to 3.86L in 2017-18. IBISWorld attributes this growth to the rising popularity of craft beer,” he said.

He said the Australian craft beer production industry was expected to grow by about 9.7 per cent over the five years through 2017-18, outperforming the beer manufacturing industry, which was expected to grow by about 2.1 per cent over the same period.

Mr Thomson said cider’s popularity had also increased.

“Cider has grown in popularity due to its image as a refreshing alternative to beer, aided by savvy marketing and promotion,” he said.

Kahlia Jones was celebrating her 21st birthday yesterday and joked she would go through her 9.7 litres last night alone. “I’m a social drinker, like (last night) for instance,” she said. “Having a drink makes me feel a lot more sociable, and it calms me down a bit. I’m not someone who ever goes home alone and drinks by myself on the couch, it’s always with friends.”

The Hotel Darwin bartender said Territorians loved their Great Northern.

“I’ve never sold as much of it as I do up here,” she said.

“And I never knew how much people drink until I started working at a bar.”

While Ms Jones said she had noticed people drinking more in the past year, Dinah Beach Cruising Yacht Association supervisor Ashling Connors said people’s drinking levels had stayed consistent at the club. “We get the real locals here and they don’t really change much, they’ve always been steady,” she said.

“We have been selling a lot more draught beer recently.”