Canada Imports More Alcohol

Posted by Daniel Workman Jun 19, 2008

Last year, Canadians drank US$18 billion worth of beer, wine and spirits. That amounts to a 4.9% gain over 2006.

Canadian beer drinking continues to slow, although sales of imported brands did grow faster than Canadian-made brews last year. Overall, Canadian purchases of beer rose 2% in 2007 - the slowest of any alcoholic beverage category. Imported beers now represent 11.4% of Canadian beer sales, twice the Canadian beer market share 10 years ago.

Wine sales to Canadians moved ahead 9.5%. Red wines now account for 61% of Canadian sales. Wine imports dominate 75% of Canadian red wine and 60% of white wine sales, respectively.

Statistics Canada also revealed that sales of spirits rose 5.8% in 2007. Up 10%, vodka was the fastest-growing spirit last year. While imported spirits garner less than 30% of the Canadian spirits market, foreign spirit brands are growing their sales faster than Canadian-made products. Whisky, scotch and bourbon remain the most popular hard liquors in Canada.

So why do imported alcoholic beverages led Canadian alcohol sales? We should consider the following trends.

1. A compelling trend towards drinking more red wine in Canada, particularly more expensive brands of imported red wine
2. A 1.5% population increase in Canadians over age 15
3. More sales of premium alcohol combined with a 0.9% rise in alcoholic beverage prices
4. Overall, Canadians spent 3.1% more on alcohol last year.