Is Alcohol Consumption on the Way Down?

This blog's content was taken from episode 261, "Will Bitcoin Get to 1 Million in 90 days"

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Is alcohol consumption decreasing? This is a question that has been floating around. Anecdotally, I would say no but statistics and reports say otherwise.

BBC reports, “Canadians appear to be losing their taste for alcohol, according to findings in a new report that showed beer and wine sales at historic lows. From 2021-22, volume of beer sold per person in Canada slumped drastically. The volume in wine sales slid by its largest margin since 1949.”

It doesn’t come as much of a surprise when BBC refers to beer and wine. Over the past decade or so, everyone has been drinking hard seltzers and alcoholic drinks that aren’t categorized under beer and wine. But according to Statistics Canada, alcohol sales have slid for the first time in a decade by 1.2% and wine sales have decreased by 4%.

Global News suggests that alcohol consumption is on the decline amongst the younger population, Gen Z. “A report from Berenberg Research shows Gen Z drinks 20 per cent less per capita than Millennials when it comes to alcohol consumption. Not to be outdone, the report also shows Millennials are drinking less than both Gen X and Baby Boomers. A separate report from Australia’s University of New South Wales also backs up the trend worldwide, finding 44 per cent of those ages 18-24 are drinking less than older generations. Clinical psychologist Dr. Dominique Morisano, who specializes in harm reduction, believes people have become more health-conscious and have shifted their habits to other substances.”

Now, people are obviously still drinking. It’s ingrained in our culture. But statistics show that every upcoming generation has been drinking less than the previous one. It’ll be interesting to see how this trend progresses.