Control and sale of alcoholic beveragesMonday, June 9, 2008
Beer remains the alcoholic drink of choice for Canadians in terms of both volume and dollar value, but its dominance continues to decline as consumers turn more to wine.
Canada's beer and liquor stores and agencies sold more than $18.0 billion worth of alcoholic beverages during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007, up 4.9% from the year before. This was the fastest rate of growth in sales since 2003.
This advance reflects, in part, the 1.4% increase in the population aged 15 and over as well as a 0.9% average increase in alcoholic beverage prices during this period.
In litres of absolute alcohol, the volume of sales of alcoholic beverages increased 3.1% to 218.7 million litres.
Market shares for the three alcoholic beverage types have changed substantially during the past decade. In 1997, beer accounted for 52% of dollar sales, spirits 27% and wine 21%. By 2007, beer had declined to 47% and spirits had slipped to 25%, while wine had captured 28% of the market.
In volume terms, wine sales significantly outpaced the growth of beer and spirit sales between 2005/2006 and 2006/2007.
Alcoholic beverage sales on a per capita basis, for Canadians aged 15 and over, amounted to $667 in 2006/2007, up $22 from the previous year.
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