Alcohol sales by volume saw their largest drop in years — in some cases ever on record — despite bringing in more money overall, a recent report from Statistics Canada says.
The report, released Feb. 24, finds that Canada sold $26.1 billion worth of alcohol in stores and businesses — such as liquor authorities, wineries, breweries, bars and restaurants — between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022, up 2.4 per cent from the previous fiscal year.
StatCan says inflation, which rose 2.8 per cent for alcohol, drove this increase in sales value.
However, stores actually sold 1.2 per cent less alcohol by volume, down to approximately 3.1 billion litres or the equivalent of 9.5 standard drinks per week for every Canadian of legal drinking age.
StatCan says this is the first decline since the 2013-14 fiscal year and the largest drop in sales by volume in more than a decade.
But does it mean Canadians are drinking less than they used to?
StatCan says data on the sale of alcohol by volume is not the same as how much people are consuming.
Dan Malleck, a health sciences professor at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., and an expert on alcohol policy and regulation, told CTV's Your Morning on Thursday that while the data could suggest Canadians are drinking less, it's possible that "a lot of these sharp declines are pandemic related."
The Omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic from late 2021 to early 2022 meant fewer people went out to restaurants or parties.
But Malleck says there are also some generational differences when it comes to drinking, with younger Canadians generally drinking less than older Canadians do.
The report says federal and provincial governments earned $13.6 billion from the control and sale of alcohol, up 1.1 per cent.
The excise tax on alcohol in Canada also is set to increase in April.
Wine sales by volume fell four per cent to 516 million litres or by about 2.4 standard glasses per week.
StatCan says this is the largest drop in the volume of wine sold since the agency began tracking alcohol sales in 1949.
This is despite wine sales rising 2.1 per cent by dollar value to $8.1 billion.
Beer, while still the most popular alcoholic beverage in Canada by market share, saw a 2.8 per cent decline in sales by volume to nearly 2.1 billion litres, or by 3.7 bottles per week.
The data show sales of beer by volume, per person, have fallen steadily in Canada since the 1970s and remain at an all-time low. Beer's market share in Canada has also fallen 8.8 percentage points in 10 years.
The total value of beer sales fell for a third straight year, dropping 0.7 per cent to $9.1 billion.
"When we look at decline in beer sales, we have to parallel it with the growth of the craft industry taking a chunk out of the mass market beer sales," Malleck said.
Craft beer has become more popular in Canada, with sales by dollar value nearly doubling in the years before the pandemic, a separate federal report shows.
Meanwhile, ciders and coolers continue to make up that market share lost by beer, with sales by volume rising 11.9 per cent to 370 million litres.
In dollar terms, this amounted to a 13.5 per cent gain to $2.1 billion, although this is lower than the 40.2 per cent growth seen in the previous fiscal year.
"That's a really interesting trend, and it certainly began before the pandemic, but it really did take a sharp uptick under this new data," Malleck said.
The StatCan report also includes data on legal cannabis sales, which were $4 billion or $131 per person of legal age, with governments earning $1.6 billion. The report did not include year-over-year changes for cannabis sales.
With files from CTV News Kitchener Videographer Spencer Turcotte
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