The beer drinking Aussie yobbo is fast becoming an extinct species, with new analysis from CommSec showing alcohol consumption in Australia hitting a 17-year low, with beer consumption at the lowest level for 67 years:
Alcohol consumption has hit 17-year lows. Unfortunately the data doesn’t totally flesh out the reasons why. Certainly the anecdotal evidence suggests that Aussies are embracing ‘quality’ ahead of ‘quantity’. That is certainly the case with beer, where craft beers are gaining favour over mainstream brands. But it may also be a case where Aussies are paying greater attention to health issues. In fact other data shows a lift in purchases of sporting and other recreational equipment over the past year.
And indeed the much more longer-trend influences on alcohol consumption are still prevalent such as random breath testing, immigration, greater variety in leisure pursuits, increases in income and wealth (affordability of alcohol is at 20-year highs), diet and lifestyle. All these factors explain why Aussies are drinking less beer, more wine and drinking less alcohol more generally…
Reduced alcohol consumption is positive from many social standpoints. But it has implications for government coffers in terms of excise revenue…
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
