21 February 2005
Alcohol and Tobacco Available For Consumption: Year Ended December 2004
Wine and Spirits Lift as Beer and Cigarettes Fall
The volume of beer available for consumption in the December 2004 year decreased by 0.2 percent compared with 2003,
while wine increased by 5.9 percent and spirits increased by 9.4 percent. The total volume of alcoholic beverage
increased by 1.9 percent in the December 2004 year, according to Statistics New Zealand. Cigarettes were down 2 percent
from the previous year. Beer provided 70 percent of the alcoholic beverage available for consumption in the December
2004 year, compared with 83 percent in the December 1994 year. Beer with a strength of 4.35 percent or less, the most
common strength of beer available in New Zealand, accounted for 74 percent of the beer available, compared with 92
percent in the December 1994 year.
Bottled beer made up nearly half of domestically produced beer in 2004, returning to a level last seen in 1982, from
which it had fallen to a low of 21 percent in 1992. By contrast, bulk (tap) beer, which accounted for almost half of the
beer produced in 1991, now accounts for less than a third. Canned beer has fallen from a peak of 32 percent of domestic
production in 1992 to 21 percent in the 2004 year. Domestic production provided 93 percent of the beer available for
consumption in New Zealand.
Spirits and spirit-based drinks represented 11 percent of the beverage available for consumption in 2004. The share of
spirits and spirit-based drinks has increased steadily from 3 percent in 1996.
The volume of spirits increased by 16.9 percent in the December 2004 year, the largest increase in spirits since 1995.
The demand for spirit-based drinks continued to rise in 2004, as it has every year since 1995, but the rate of growth
has been slowing since 2000. ƒnƒnMedia Release Email: info@stats.govt.nz Toll free : 0508 525 525 www.stats.govt.nz
Auckland Phone: 09 920 9100 Our Information Centres are at: Wellington Phone: 04 931 4600 Christchurch Phone: 03 964
8700 Wine provided 19 percent of the alcohol available in 2004, up from 14 percent in 1994. Almost all the wine
available was grape table wine, with fortified wines and fruit wines making up the balance. Consumption of fortified
wines has been falling for many years, and has dropped from nearly 20 percent of the wine supply in 1984 to 1.3 percent
in 2004. Domestic production provided 73 percent of the wine available in New Zealand.
During the December 2004 year, the number of cigarettes available for consumption was 2,320 million, down 2 percent from
the previous year. The number of cigarettes available for consumption peaked at 6,346 million in 1977, and levels were
generally above 6,000 million until 1984. Since then, cigarette consumption has generally been decreasing, and for the
past four years the number of cigarettes available for consumption has remained below 3,000 million.
Tobacco available for consumption rose to 841 tonnes in the 2004 year, up 5.8 percent from 2003. Loose tobacco for pipe
or cigarette smoking made up approximately 27 percent of the cigarette and tobacco products available for consumption.
Brian Pink
Government Statistician
ENDS