INTRODUCTION
1 This publication contains annual estimates of apparent consumption of pure alcohol based on the availability of alcohol in Australia. Available for consumption data are derived using information relating to supply from the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) and excise tariff data from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), which means that the data are an approximate estimate of alcohol available. No adjustment is made for change in stocks, and all alcohol available for consumption in a particular year is assumed to have been consumed in that year.
2 For beer and wine, estimates of total quantity available for consumption and apparent per capita consumption for persons aged 15 years and over are included in terms of volume (litres (L)) and alcohol content (litres of alcohol (Lal)). For spirits and ready to drink pre-mixed products, estimates of total quantity available for consumption and apparent per capita consumption are expressed in terms of alcohol content only.
3 Data on apparent consumption of alcohol back to 1946-47 are available on request, however due to several changes to source data over the years, information may not be comparable over time.
All requests for data should be directed, in the first instance, to the ABS National Information and Referral Service.
National Information and Referral Service
Phone: 1300 135 070 (National)
+61 2 9268 4909 (International)
Fax: 1300 135 211 (National)
+61 2 9268 4654 (International)
Email: client.services@abs.gov.au
Postal address: Client Services
Australian Bureau of Statistics
GPO Box 796
Sydney NSW 2001
SCOPE AND COVERAGE
4 The scope of this collection is beer, wine, spirits and ready to drink pre-mixed products available for consumption. Other alcoholic beverages which do not fall within this group, e.g. ciders, are not included.
5 Data for beer, wine, spirits and ready to drink pre-mixed products are collected from import clearances via the ACBPS, excise tariff data from the ATO, and domestic sales of Australian produced wine from winemakers. Data for beer and wine also contain an estimated component for home production.
6 Due to the relatively small quantities involved, no adjustments have been made for alcohol which is imported into Australia, cleared through bonded warehouse and then subsequently re-exported.
7 Import clearance data are used in this publication to measure the quantity of alcohol imported into Australia. Import clearances relate to goods which are brought into Australia directly for home consumption, plus goods cleared from a bonded warehouse (i.e. goods cleared into the Australian market for home consumption following payment of duty). Refer to the International Merchandise Trade, Australia, Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2001 (cat. no. 5489.0) for details.
8 Data provided by the ATO is an administrative by-product of data collected for the levying of excise tariffs. Only data relating to alcohol content (litres of alcohol) is available for use in this publication.
9 Data relating to domestic sales of Australian produced wine is obtained directly by the ABS from winemakers. See Sales of Australian Wine and Brandy by Winemakers (cat. no. 8504.0).
Beer
10 Alcohol for apparent consumption from beer is obtained from import clearance data and excise data on Australian production, as well as an estimated amount for home production.
11 There have been changes to the excise data for beer provided by the ATO since excise tariff reform in July 2006. Currently, only data on the dutiable quantity of alcohol (Lal) in beer is provided. Data on the first 1.15% of alcohol in beer (Lal) (which does not attract excise), and data on the total volume of beer (L), is no longer provided. As a result, in this edition, the 1.15% excise-free component (Lal) and the total volume of beer (L) have been estimated using separate average strength estimates for packaged and tap beer for each of the three beer strengths, based on historical excise data. Therefore, the total quantity of alcohol (Lal) and total volume of beer (L) available for consumption, and apparent per capita consumption for beer, may not be directly comparable with data before 2005–06.
|
| Beer strength |  |
| Packaged beer | Average alcohol strength (%) |
| Low strength >1.15 and =<3.0 | 2.69 |
| Mid strength >3.0 and =<3.5 | 3.48 |
| Full strength >3.5 | 4.76 |
| |
| Tap beer | |
| Low strength >1.15 and =<3.0 | 2.68 |
| Mid strength >3.0 and =<3.5 | 3.50 |
| Full strength >3.5 | 4.68 |
|
12 As a result of excise tariff reform in July 2006 new data items (for beer brewed on commercial premises for non-commercial purposes) which were not separately identified previously were introduced to the ATO collection (alcohol volume < 3% and alcohol volume > 3%). These additional data items have been categorised to low and high beer strengths based on their alcohol contents. Data in the 'greater than 3% volume of alcohol' category was added to the full strength beer category as the amount of mid strength beer brewed on commercial premises for non-commercial purposes is negligible.
|
| Beer strength | Total volume |
| Low strength | Beer with an alcohol volume >1.15% and =<3.0%, and beer brewed on commercial premises for non-commercial purposes with an alcohol volume <3.0%. |
| Mid strength | Beer with an alcohol volume >3.0% and =<3.5%. |
| Full strength | Beer with an alcohol volume >3.5%, and beer brewed on commercial premises for non-commercial purposes with an alcohol volume >3.0%. |
|
13 Figures for beer include an estimated component for home production which is based on the survey,
Home Production of Selected Foodstuffs, Australia (cat. no. 7110.0).
Wine
14 Alcohol intake from wine is derived from import clearance data and domestic sales of Australian produced wine, assuming the following concentrations of alcohol:
|
| Wine Type | Alcohol strength (%) |
| Fortified | 17.9 |
| Sparkling and carbonated | 10.6 |
| Table wine | 10.8 |
| Vermouth | 17.3 |
| Other wine not elsewhere included | 14.4 |
|
15 It should be noted that the actual alcohol content of wine varies greatly, even for similar wine products.
16 Figures for wine include an estimated component for home production which is based on the survey,
Home Production of Selected Foodstuffs, Australia (cat. no. 7110.0).
Spirits
17 Alcohol intake from spirits is obtained from import clearance data and excise data on Australian production, with an adjustment to account for the excise paid on imported spirits which are commercially mixed with locally manufactured soft drinks after importation. Since 2003–04 the excise data used in these estimates have been obtained from the ATO. In previous years, excise data was obtained from the ACBPS.
18 Excise tariff reform in July 2006 also affected the level of detail of spirit data provided by the ATO, but has not affected data in this publication. The total for spirits excludes ready to drink pre-mixed products based on spirits.
Ready to drink pre-mixed products
19 Alcohol available for consumption in the form of ready to drink pre-mixed products is obtained from import clearance data and excise data on Australian production. Ready to drink pre-mixed products can include spirit based, wine based and other unspecified based products.
20 Import clearance data used to estimate ready to drink pre-mixed products are distilled alcoholic beverages not elsewhere specified and spirituous beverages not elsewhere specified (both having an alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 1.15% but not exceeding 10%).
21 To facilitate comparisons over time, 2005–06 and 2006–07 ready to drink pre-mixed products data used in this edition have been revised.
Apparent per capita consumption
22 Apparent per capita consumption data included in this publication are calculated by dividing the quantity available for consumption by the Estimated Resident Population (ERP) of persons aged 15 years and over in Australia at 31 December each year.
Population data are derived from those published in
Australian Demographic Statistics (cat. no. 3101.0). Figures are periodically revised as more recent data become available. In this edition, per capita estimates have been updated to reflect the latest census results.
23 The following table includes the ERP of all persons, and of persons aged 15 years and over, at 31 December for 2005 to 2007. Apparent per capita consumption is calculated for persons aged 15 years and over.
|
| Individual years at 31 December | Persons aged 15 years and over | Total Population |
| 2005 | 16,507,120 | 20,544,064 |
| 2006 | 16,808,144 | 20,873,663 |
| 2007 | 17,132,202 | 21,237,904 |
|
24 Revised figures for apparent per capita consumption (15 years and over) in previous years may also be due to revision in import clearance data in the amount of alcohol available for consumption. Revisions to quantities of beer and wine have been made after adjustments to import clearance codes used in the analysis of apparent consumption data.
25 Percentage movements have been calculated using unrounded numbers, and may be different from movements obtained from the rounded numbers presented in the tables.
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