Canadians like their alcohol. We tend to be among the top drinkers in the world.
One study published showed that Canadians drink about 50% more on average than others around the planet.
Whether that’s true or not, Canadians are upping the ante. The latest report from the national statistics gathering agency Statistics Canada reports that beer wine and liquor sales combined rose 2.2 percent in the fiscal year ending March 31. That was $21.4 billion dollars, in a nation of about 35 million people.
While beer has always been a traditional favourite, sales are declining, while wine and hard liquor is increasing. In 2003, it had 50 per cent of the alcohol market in dollar terms, while wine held 24 per cent. By 2013, beer’s share of the market had declined to 43 per cent while wine rose to 32 per cent.
This past year, beer sales were down another tad, 0.1%, while wine sales increased 4.9% and liquor sales were up 2.9 percent
The western province of Alberta had Canada’s highest increase in sales of alcohol, up seven per cent over the previous year, compared with the national increase of 2.2 per cent. This is being attributed to the province’s increasing wealth from oil sales, meaning people have more disposable income to spend on alcohol, and can also spend it on the more expensive wines and liquors .
It should be noted that Canada is also producing many world class wines, although most of it is consumed domestically.
Last year a Canadian wine won at the world’s most prestigious wine championships.
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