New data from Roy Morgan’s Alcohol Consumption Report shows one in five people in Australia now regularly enjoy RTD drinks.

RTDs were the standout alcoholic beverage during the pandemic, with consumption increasing from 2,138,000 Australians (10.8%) pre-pandemic and that number has more than doubled to 4,319,000 (21.0%) in late 2023 – a massive increase of over 2.1 million people.

While RTD consumption in Australia has continued to increase post-COVID-19, consumption of wine has plateaued at a far higher level than pre-pandemic, while consumption of spirits has largely returned to its pre-pandemic levels and consumption of beer – which had the smallest pandemic increase – has continued its long-term decline.

The spirits category enjoyed a clear ‘pandemic boost’ of over one million extra consumers and in the 12 months to December 2021 there were 6,759,000 (33.8%) Australians drinking spirits, however this ‘boost’ has now receded. There are now 5,623,000 (27.3%) Australians drinking spirits, down slightly from 5,671,000 (28.7%) pre-pandemic.

In contrast to wine and RTDs, the major category that hasn’t been able to arrest a long-term decline is the beer category. Although consumption of beer did increase during the early stages of the pandemic this momentum quickly dissipated.

Now under a third of Australians, 6,725,000 (32.7%) consume beer, down significantly from the 7,413,000 (37.6%) who did so in the 12 months to March 2020 just before the pandemic struck and turned the world upside down during much of the past four years.

The fifth most popular category alcohol is cider, which dipped significantly during the pandemic but has since recovered much of this lost ground. During the 12 months to December 2021 only 1,620,000 (8.1%) consumed cider, down by nearly 500,000 compared to pre-pandemic consumption of 2,114,000 (10.7%). Since this low point in 2021 consumption has recovered by over 300,000 to 1,953,000 (9.5%) in late 2023.

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said the increase in alcohol consumption during the pandemic years has been sustained and driven by a doubling in the consumption of RTDs in Australia, while almost one million more Australians are drinking wine than pre-pandemic.

“The rapid increase in the consumption of alcohol during the pandemic years of 2020-21 was driven by increases for all four of the major alcohol categories – wine, beer, spirits and RTDs,” she said.

“However, as the pandemic subsided, these four categories experienced very different trajectories of consumption.

“The short-term pandemic related trend peaked in the 12 months to June 2021 with overall consumption of alcohol reaching a high of 69.7% of Australian adults.

“Since then, the share of adults consuming alcohol has declined by 1.6% points to 68.1%. However, the growth in population over the last two years means the raw number of adults drinking an alcoholic beverage in an average four weeks has continued to increase since mid-pandemic – up 105,000 to a record high 14,013,000.

Declining alcohol consumption

Levine said a longer-term trend of declining alcohol consumption among the Australian population had resumed. In the year to June 2006 nearly three-quarters of Australian adults, 73.5%, drunk an alcoholic beverage in an average four weeks.

“The strong performance of RTDs (Ready-to-drinks) and wine over the last few years has helped arrest this long-term decline and means total alcohol consumption today is sustainably above pre-pandemic trends – and is up on a year ago,” she said.

The most popular alcohol is wine which has stretched its lead over the last few years with the number of Australians drinking wine increasing from 8,096,000 (41.0%) pre-pandemic to 9,068,000 (44.1%) in the 12 months to September 2023 – an increase of nearly one million people.

“Compared to a year ago there are now 9,068,000 Australian adults drinking wine in an average four weeks, up 159,000 on a year ago – though the share of the population is virtually unchanged,” Levine said.

“Over half of Australian adults aged 65-79 (50.7%) and 50-64 (50.3%) drink wine in an average four weeks.

“Consumption of beer is also marginally up on a year ago with 6,725,000 Australian adults drinking beer in an average four weeks – up 89,000. However, the standout performer of the last few years has been RTDs which have kept increasing in the post-pandemic period. Now 4,319,000 Australian adults drink RTDs in an average four weeks – up 624,000 on a year ago and up over 2.1 million on pre-pandemic in the year to March 2020.

“In contrast, the spike in the drinking of spirits experienced during the pandemic has proved short-lived with 5,623,000 Australian adults now drinking spirits in an average four weeks, down 201,000 on a year ago and down over 1.1 million from the pandemic peak of spirits consumption in 2021.”

Cost-of-living concerns

Levine said Roy Morgan would continue to keep a close eye on the emerging trends in the alcohol consumption market as Australians deal with a cost-of-living crisis that has led to a moderation of spending on discretionary items over the last few months as Australians take care of the essentials in life.

“The trends we are seeing in the post-pandemic period suggest consumption of wine has found a new high above pre-pandemic levels while consumption of spirits looks set to return to pre-pandemic levels. The good news is that consumption of RTDs such as vodka, gin, bourbon and rum has been on a sharp rise in recent years and that trend has continued despite the challenging economic circumstances faced by many Australians.”

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