Drinks industry reports major decline in alcohol consumption in 2008

alcohol sales are down 14% in August compared to August 07, and down 7% overall in the first eight months

Eight year alcohol decline takes a sharp turn for the worse in 2008, according The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland

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The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland [DIGI] has reported that

, according to excise receipts.

Commenting on the findings, chairman of DIGI, Michael Patten said that the figures indicated consumption levels were falling sharply; “On the basis of these figures, it’s likely that we’ll see a decline in alcohol consumption per adult of 8% or more during the current year. That’s more than the decline we saw over the past six years combined.”

Patten said that the industry was under pressure because of the combination of a weakening economy and a high cost base for alcohol producers and retailers; “We’re being hit by the double whammy of high costs and a weakening economy. This is worrying news for jobs in the domestic alcohol manufacturers in particular, and for the traditional high-employment retail sector.”

The author of a recent report on the economic contribution of the Irish drinks industry, Anthony Foley, head of Economics, Finance and Entrenpreneurship, DCU, said that the decline had been seen across alcohol categories in both the on-trade the off-trade channels.

Foley said that the decline marked an acceleration of a process of decline which had been underway since 2001; “Despite common perceptions, alcohol consumption in Ireland peaked in 2001 and has been in decline since. These figures show however that the pace of that decline has picked up dramatically.”

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