Wellington: The number of standard drinks of alcohol per person available for consumption in New Zealand declined to 1.96 per day in 2022, a fall of 1 per cent, the country’s statistics department said on Monday.
This is the lowest number of standard drinks of alcohol available per person in the last 15 years, Stats NZ’s international trade manager Alasdair Allen said.
The total volume of spirits available increased 3.2 per cent in 2022 to 103 million liters, while the volume of wine available dropped 5.9 per cent to 101 million liters, reports Xinhua news agency.
This continues the trend seen over the last two years, Allen said.
Mid-strength beers available have seen a long-term decline with alcohol content between 2.5 and 4.35 per cent beer and an increase in 4.35 to 5 per cent beer, he said.
Beer with alcohol content from 2.5 to 4.35 per cent decreased 21 per cent to 76 million liters in 2022, while beer with alcohol content from 4.35 to 5 per cent increased 26 per cent to 177 million liters, statistics show.
Overall, the total volume of beer available was little changed in 2022 with 294 million liters available for consumption. Both low- and high-strength beers declined, Allen said.
Beer with alcohol content of up to 2.5 per cent decreased 12 per cent to 6.9 million liters, while beer with alcohol content of more than 5 per cent decreased 29 per cent to 34 million liters, he said.
–IANS