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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 Previous versions of this publication have presented the data in two sections. These were pure alcohol available for consumption and volume of beer and wine available for consumption. This publication provides data by type of product in sections referred to as Summary, Beer, Wine and Spirits and Ready to drink (pre-mixed) beverages. Data on white and red table wine has also been included.

3 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) beverages, estimates of total quantity available for consumption and apparent per capita consumption are expressed in terms of alcohol content only.

4 Data on apparent consumption of alcohol has been published since 1946–47. Prior to 2002–03, the data on apparent consumption of alcohol is available from the publication Apparent Consumption of Foodstuffs and Nutrients, Australia, 1997–98 and 1998–99 (cat. no. 4306.0). To facilitate comparisons over time, relevant data from the previous two years publications are revised to incorporate changes in the estimated resident population (ERP) and any changes made in data collection or methodology. However, ongoing changes to methodology means that data from this publication are most useful as a guide to trends and comparisons over extended periods cannot be reliably made.

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

5 The scope of this collection is beer, wine, spirits and ready to drink (pre-mixed) beverages available for consumption. Other alcoholic beverages which do not fall within this group, e.g. ciders, are not included.

6 Data for beer, wine, spirits and ready to drink (pre-mixed) beverages are collected from import clearances via the ACBPS, excise tariff data from the ATO (which only applies to alcohol sold in Australia), and domestic sales of Australian produced wine from winemakers. Data for beer and wine also contain an estimated component for home production.

7 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. It should be noted that the data only provides a measure of what alcohol is available for consumption in a given financial year and is not data collected from an actual consumption survey. As such, the data is most useful as a guide to trends and does not take into account alcohol that has been stored or cellared, used in the preparation of food or has been discarded as waste.

8 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.

9 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.

10 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.

11 Data relating to domestic sales of Australian produced wine is obtained directly by the ABS from winemakers. See Shipments of Wine and Brandy in Australia by Australian Winemakers and Importers, Dec 2009 (cat. no. 8504.0) previously titled Sales of Australian Wine and Brandy by Winemakers.

Beer
12 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.

13 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 to the ABS by the ATO. 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 available. As a result, 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 2006–07.

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