Australians Opt for Wine as Beer Consumption Dips to 66-Year Low

With Tourism Australia pushing for Australian wine and food through the Restaurant Australia campaign and official government statistical data confirming more wine exports to China, it is little wonder that beer drinking in the country down under is going down.

The latest report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said the average Aussie drinks 44 fewer standard drinks of beer now compared to 2008, causing the national average to slip down to 331 standard drinks of beer which is a 66-year low level like what happened in 1945 and 1946 when Australian pubs stopped serving beer to customers at 6 pm.

In contrast, wine consumption increased by an average of seven glasses per person for the same time frame, boosting average wine consumption to 304 glasses of wine a year.

Also down is drinking of pre-mixed drinks by 34, but cider drinking tripled in the past five years in Australia.

Tim Schwilk, owner of the Sydney Wine Centre, a wine-tasting business, explained the rise in wine drinking to Australians actually drinking to enjoy the experience and the occasion, and not to get drunk.

"That may be a bit easier to see in wine ... There's layers of flavour and complexity that allow it to be enjoyed and shared easier than beer," The Age quoted Mr Schwilk.

ABS statistician Louise Gates added that beer consumption per person started to go down in the 1970s.

With the difference in average consumption of beer and wine down to 27 drinks a year, CommSec chief economist Craig James forecasts that wine consumption will overtake beer one day due to various factors such as random breath testing, immigration, greater variety in leisure pursuits, increases in income and wealth, diet and lifestyle.

This video explains why some people prefer wine over beer.