Alcohol consumption down 9% this year: Lobby group DIGI

Alcohol industry lobby group DIGI (the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland) has said alcohol consumption has fallen fast since the start of this year, a trend that is causing a "crisis" in the industry.

The group said today that its analysis of excise receipts from the Revenue Commissioners showed that alcohol sales fell 9% since January and are down 22% in the month of September alone, compared to the same month in 2007.

The September figures show purchases of beer were most affected, declining by 35% for the month compared to September 2007 and by 11% year to date. Beer is the largest alcohol product sector.

Spirits declined by 3% in the month and by 8.4% year to date. Wine is down 17% in the month and 6% year to date. Cider recovered sales in the month by 4.4% (compared to September last year) but remains down by 8.4% year to date.

DIGI chairman Michael Patten said: "On the basis of these figures, it’s likely that we’ll see a decline in alcohol consumption per adult of 10% during the current year - that’s more than the decline we saw over the past six years combined [-7%].

"We need to urgently stem the flow and protect jobs and we will be seeking a meeting with the government to discuss the crisis as soon as possible. In the meantime it is imperative that the situation is not made worse in next week’s budget - there is clearly no crock of gold to be found in today’s drinks industry."