What we drink
In 2020, 494 million litres of alcoholic drinks were available for sale in New Zealand (this is a proxy measure of the alcohol we consume):
- 293 million litres of beer;
- 113 million litres of wine;
- 89 million litres of spirits and spirit-based drinks.
Beer comprises 59% of the total volume of alcoholic beverages consumed in NZ, followed by wine (23%) and spirits (18%)
The figure of 494 million litres is a small (0.8%) increase from 2019 (491 million litres).
However, these beverages are often different alcohol strengths (e.g. a beer can be 4% but spirits can be 40%), so the volume of what we drink doesn't tell us how much alcohol we have consumed as a country. Consumption of the 494 million litres equated to 36 million litres of pure alcohol, rose 1.9% from 35.3 million litres in 2019.
In 2020, 8.7 litres of pure alcohol were available for each person aged 15. To put this into perspective, it is the same as every person aged over 18 years consuming two standard drinks per person every day of the year (i.e. 2 cans of beer (330ml, 4% alcohol) or 2 glasses of wine (12.5%; 100ml)). In reality, New Zealand drinkers don't all drink the same amount. We know that approximately 46% of all alcohol sold in New Zealand is consumed in heavy drinking occasions, ie. 8 or more standard drinks for men and 4 or more standard drinks for women.
In 2020, beer, wine and spirits contributed almost equally to our pure alcohol intake. Beer contributed 12.9 million litres or pure alcohol, wine 11.7 million litres, followed by spirits with 11.3 million litres.
In relation to NZers consumption of pure alcohol (ethanol), we consume an almost equal amount from beer (36%), wine (32.4%) and spirits (31.6%)
New Zealanders are increasingly becoming spirits drinkers - in 2004 spirits contributed 23% of pure alcohol intake, in 2020 spirits contributed 31.6%.
Because spirits are taxed at the highest rate in the excise tax structure (given their high strength) the increase in spirits consumption gave a $119 million windfall in tax revenue to the Government In 2020, Government excise revenue from alcohol was $1.193 billion, up from $1.074 billion in 2019.
Alcohol available for consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic
Alcohol availability is measured on a quarterly basis. In Aotearoa New Zealand, national lockdown occurred in Quarter 2 (April, May, June). During this time, pubs were closed.
In Quarter 2, the overall amount of pure alcohol available for consumption (per capita) dropped by 9%.
Following lockdown, if New Zealand drinkers had returned to their (normal) heavy drinking patterns for Quarters 3 and 4, overall alcohol availability in 2020 should have been lower than previous years (due to the decline during lockdown). Whilst wine availability increased by 5%, spirits availability reduced by 27% and spirits-based drinks reduced by 23%.
Unfortunately, New Zealanders compensated for earlier declines in consumption by adding that volume to later quarters of 2020, resulting in an overall annual increase of 1.9% in pure alcohol consumption.
- Quarter 3 (July–Sept 2020) showed pure alcohol availability per capita was 10% higher than in the same quarter in the previous year. Consumption of wine (12% increase), beer (20% increase), spirits (9% increase) and spirits-based drinks (4%) all increased.
- During Q4 (Oct–Dec 2020), spirits and spirits-based drinks (RTDs) consumption increased substantially by 21% and 16% compared to the same quarter in 2019. Beer availability declined by 9%.
Note that about 15% of spirits consumption is normally unrecorded - being bought from duty free outlets. As duty-free outlets have been closed during the pandemic, consumers would have had to purchase their spirits from local outlets. This may partly explain the substantial increases in spirits availability. What was previously hidden in our figures of national consumption is now in available to be seen.
New Zealand drinking compared to other countries
New Zealanders typically drink a large amount of alcohol in a drinking occasion. Although we drink less (overall) than the Irish and British (and slightly less than Australians), we drink more than Americans, Canadians and South Africans.
We also need to note that our assessment of per capita consumption in New Zealand, when we are comparing countries, is out of date. This is because our per capita consumption calculations are not based on the alcohol content of products in our current market (the per capita calculations assume products have a lower alcohol strength than they currently do). For this reason, we believe that the per capita consumption estimate in New Zealand (of 8.9 litres per person) is likely to be an under-estimate of the true value.
Be careful of estimates of per capita alcohol consumption in NZ; the estimates are based on the concentration of alcohol in products sold in the 1970-80s
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Take Action
Consult local regulatory agencies in your area
If you feel your supermarket is not limiting exposure and promotion of alcohol to a single area(s), consult your local regulatory agencies. As a starting point, contact your local PUBLIC HEALTH UNIT.
You may also contact the licensing team of the local council in your area as they deal with Local Alcohol Policies or Licence Applications. Here is a list of LOCAL COUNCIL whereby you may search for contact details of the respective alcohol licensing team in your area.
Get Prepared
The Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 introduced restrictions on where supermarket and groceries stores can display and promote alcohol. This is now confined to a “single area” within the store. Promotions must not be seen or heard outside of this area or from outside of the store.
Click here to read the legislation relating to single areas for supermarkets.
Consult your local regulatory agencies for the most updated information on alcohol areas in supermarkets. A good starting point is contacting your local PUBLIC HEALTH UNIT .
You may also contact the licensing team of your local council as they deal with Local Alcohol Policies or Licence Applications. Here is a list of LOCAL COUNCIL whereby you may search for contact details of the respective alcohol licensing team in your area.
Case for Change
In 1989, wine and mead became available for sale from grocery stores and supermarkets. This was followed in 1999 with beer. The sale of spirits is not permitted.
The introduction of wine sales into New Zealand supermarkets increased the affordability and consumption of wine markedly. New Zealanders are now drinking twice as much wine as they used to.
There are two major supermarket chains in New Zealand: Progressive Enterprises and Foodstuffs.
Alcohol is the biggest selling caterory in the supermarket. Many New Zealanders buy their alcohol from supermarkets.
On average, the same alcohol product is sold more cheaply from supermarkets than bottle stores.
The number of supermarkets and grocery stores in New Zealand communities has been linked with a range of alcohol-related harms: antisocial behaviour, dishonesty offences, property abuses, property damage, sexual offences and violent offences.
The placement of alcohol in everyday settings, next to commonly purchased products, may normalise alcohol use in our society. Especially among children. New Zealand children are regularly exposed to alcohol in supermarkets.
Tobacco can't be displayed in supermarkets, but alcohol can. Yet alcohol is the most harmful drug in our society.
Get Prepared
The price of alcohol
- Cheap and discounted alcohol increases the demand for alcohol and encourages heavier drinking.
- The introduction of alcohol (beer, wine and mead) into supermarkets (wine in 1989 and beer in 1999) had a considerable impact on lowering the price of alcohol. The price of any particular beer or wine is generally found to be cheaper in supermarkets than bottle stores.
- The introduction of ready-to-drinks (RTDs or alcopops) also had a considerable impact on drinking, particularly on young people. They are relatively cheap and attractive to young people.
- Increasing the retail price of alcohol is one of the most effective strategies to reduce accessibility and alcohol-related harm. It can be achieved in a number of ways including; increasing excise tax, introducing Minimum Unit Pricing, restricting the promotion of discounted alcohol.
Case for Change
The low price of alcohol is a key driver of our drinking culture. Cheap alcohol fuels heavy drinking.
In 2017, alcohol was found to be more affordable than ever before. Wine has particularly become more affordable. This means that it now takes us less time to earn enough money to buy a standard drink.
In New Zealand, off-licences are now selling approximately 75% of all alcohol. Supermarkets are big players in the retail market.
High liquor outlet density in a community may lead to competition, which drives prices down.
Increasing the price of alcohol is one of the strongest tools in our kete / basket to reduce harm. A large body of high-quality research suggests that a 10% increase in price reduces overall alcohol consumption by 5%. In fact, it is the most important strategy to reduce inequities in alcohol harm.
Take Action
Consult local regulatory agencies in your area
If you feel your supermarket is not limiting exposure and promotion of alcohol to a single area(s), consult your local regulatory agencies. As a starting point, contact your local PUBLIC HEALTH UNIT.
You may also contact the licensing team of the local council in your area as they deal with Local Alcohol Policies or Licence Applications. Here is a list of LOCAL COUNCILS whereby you may search for contact details of the respective alcohol licensing team in your area.
Get Prepared
The Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 introduced restrictions on where supermarket and groceries stores can display and promote alcohol. This is now confined to a “single area” within the store. Promotions must not be seen or heard outside of this area or from outside of the store.
Click here to read the legislation relating to single areas for supermarkets.
Consult your local regulatory agencies for the most updated information on alcohol areas in supermarkets. A good starting point is contacting your local PUBLIC HEALTH UNIT .
You may also contact the licensing team of your local council as they deal with Local Alcohol Policies or Licence Applications. Here is a list of LOCAL COUNCILS whereby you may search for contact details of the respective alcohol licensing team in your area.
Case for Change
In 1989, wine and mead became available for sale from grocery stores and supermarkets. This was followed in 1999 with beer. The sale of spirits is not permitted.
The introduction of wine sales into New Zealand supermarkets increased the affordability and consumption of wine markedly. New Zealanders are now drinking twice as much wine as they used to.
There are two major supermarket chains in New Zealand: Woolworths and Foodstuffs.
Alcohol is the biggest selling category in the supermarket. Many New Zealanders buy their alcohol from supermarkets.
On average, the same alcohol product is sold more cheaply from supermarkets than bottle stores.
The number of supermarkets and grocery stores in New Zealand communities has been linked with a range of alcohol-related harms: antisocial behaviour, dishonesty offences, property abuses, property damage, sexual offences and violent offences.
The placement of alcohol in everyday settings, next to commonly purchased products, may normalise alcohol use in our society. Especially among children. New Zealand children are regularly exposed to alcohol in supermarkets.
Tobacco can't be displayed in supermarkets, but alcohol can. Yet alcohol is the most harmful drug in our society.
Get Prepared
Alcohol and marketing companies have developed their own Code for Advertising and Promotion of Alcohol. The Code contains a set of guidelines for all alcohol advertisements in NZ. From April 2021, new alcohol advertisements will be expected to adhere to the new Alcohol Advertising and Promotion Code, which will apply to all alcohol advertisements from July 2021.
There is also a law around irresponsible promotion of alcohol. This relates to the promotion of excessive drinking as well as advertising/promotions that appeal to minors. Click below to read more.