Summary

There were 182.0 million litres of pure alcohol available for consumption from alcoholic beverages in Australia in 2010-11. This was 1.1% less than the amount available for consumption in 2009-10 (184.0 million litres).

The decrease was comprised of decreases from beer (down 3.4%) and wine (down 0.6%). Spirits available for consumption during this period increased by 4.8% and Ready to Drink (pre-mixed) beverages were stable.

Of all pure alcohol available for consumption in 2010-11, beer contributed 42.3%, wine 37.4%, spirits 13.2% and RTDs 7.0%.

On a per capita basis, there were 10.0 litres of pure alcohol available for consumption per person in 2010-11, 2.6% less than the amount in 2009-10 (10.3 litres). As a standard drink consists of 12.5 mls of pure alcohol, this is equivalent to an average of 2.2 standard drinks per day per person aged 15 years and over. Note that these figures will overestimate the true level of alcohol consumed as beverages, as adjustments cannot be made for wastage and other factors such as the alcohol used in cooking.

Year ended 30 June	Beer	Wine	Spirits	RTDs(a)	Total
VOLUME OF PURE ALCOHOL ('000 litres)
2006	76 388	58 311	19 154	16 383	170 236
2007	77 849	62 263	19 355	18 123	177 590
2008	79 496	62 807	20 160	18 693	181 156
2009	81 148	65 600	r22 908	r13 012	r182 668
2010	r79 736	r68 451	r23 015	12 811	r184 013
2011	77 063	68 028	24 112	12 814	182 016
PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF PURE ALCOHOL(b) (litres)
2006	4.63	3.53	1.16	0.99	10.31
2007	4.63	3.70	1.15	1.08	10.57
2008	4.63	3.66	r1.18	1.09	10.56
2009	4.62	3.73	1.30	0.74	10.40
2010	r4.45	r3.82	r1.28	r0.71	r10.27
2011	4.23	3.74	1.32	0.70	9.99
(a) Ready to Drink (pre-mixed) beverages.
(b) Litres per person aged 15 years and over. r revised
GRAPH 1: APPARENT CONSUMPTION OF PURE ALCOHOL, Per capita(a) - Year ended 30 June 2006 to 2011

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