Alcohol Consumption Figures: December 2025 Report

Alcohol available for consumption statistics provide information on the volume of alcoholic beverages (beer, wine, spirits, and spirit-based drinks) available for consumption in New Zealand.

Key facts

All comparisons are between the year ended December 2025 and the year ended December 2024, except where otherwise stated.

The total volume of alcoholic beverages available for consumption was down 8.3 percent to 442 million litres.

• The volume of beer fell 10 percent to 265 million litres.
• The volume of wine fell 11 percent to 85 million litres.
• The volume of spirits (including spirit-based drinks) rose 1.3 percent to 93 million litres.
• The equivalent total volume of pure alcohol in all alcoholic beverages for consumption fell 7.6 percent.
• The volume of available alcohol, expressed in terms of the number of equivalent standard drinks per person aged 18 years and over, fell 8.4 percent to 1.6 standard drinks per person per day.

Volume of alcoholic beverages falls

The total volume of alcoholic beverages available for consumption was down 8.3 percent to 442 million litres. This follows a rise of 1.2 percent in 2024, and a fall of 4.3 percent in 2023.

As a proportion of the total volume of alcoholic beverages available for consumption, between 2011 and 2025:

• beer decreased from 63 percent to 60 percent
• wine decreased from 21 percent to 19 percent
• spirits and spirit-based drinks increased from 16 percent to 21 percent.

Beer volume down 10 percent

The total volume of beer available for consumption fell 10 percent to 265 million litres in 2025. This follows a rise of 5.4 percent in 2024, and a fall of 4.4 percent in 2023.

The changes in volume in each of the four categories of beer, according to alcoholic content were:

• up to 2.5 percent alcohol - fell 19 percent, to 4.9 million litres
• between 2.5 and 4.35 percent - rose 0.8 percent, to 96 million litres
• between 4.35 and 5 percent - fell 13 percent, to 139 million litres
• above 5 percent - fell 27 percent, to 25 million litres.

Of the total volume of beer available for consumption in 2025, 86 percent was produced in New Zealand and 14 percent was imported.

In addition to the volume of beer produced in New Zealand that is available for local consumption, a total of 12 million litres of beer was exported in 2025.

Wine volume down 11 percent

The total volume of wine available for consumption fell 11 percent to 85 million litres in 2025. This follows a fall of 4.1 percent in 2024, and a fall of 2.4 percent in 2023.

Of the main categories of wine:

• total table wine (wine with an alcohol content up to 14 percent) fell 11 percent to 84 million litres
• fortified wine (wine with an alcohol content greater than 14 percent) fell 15 percent to 343,000 litres
• wine made from grapes fell 9.3 percent to 71 million litres
• wine made from other fruit and vegetables, or flavoured with other aromatic substances, fell 17 percent, to 13 million litres.

Of the total volume of wine available for consumption in 2025, 71 percent was produced in New Zealand and 29 percent was imported.

In addition to the volume of wine produced in New Zealand that is available for local consumption, a total of 280 million litres of wine was exported in 2025.

Volume of spirits and spirit-based drinks up 1.3 percent

The total volume of spirits and spirit-based drinks available for consumption in 2025 rose 1.3 percent from 2024, to 93 million litres, following fall of 5.5 percent in 2024, and a fall of 5.7 percent in 2023.

The changes by volume of the two categories were:

• spirit-based drinks (containing up to 23 percent alcohol, such as ready-to-drink beverages (RTDs)), up 1.9 percent to 80 million litres
• spirits (containing more than 23 percent alcohol, such as vodka, gin, and whisky), down 2.4 percent to 13 million litres.

Volume of pure alcohol falls 7.6 percent

The total volume of pure alcohol is a measure of the equivalent amount of alcohol in all alcoholic beverages available for consumption, after taking account of the different alcoholic contents of the various categories of beer, wine, and spirits.

The total volume of pure alcohol in alcoholic beverages available for consumption fell 7.6 percent. This followed a 3.1 percent fall in 2024, and a 3.0 percent fall in 2023.

Of the main categories of alcoholic beverage, the total volume of pure alcohol in:

• beer fell 11 percent
• wine fell 9.7 percent
• spirits (including spirit-based drinks) fell 1.5 percent
  • spirits (with more than 23 percent alcohol content) fell 2.4 percent
  • spirit-based drinks (with not more than 23 percent alcohol content) fell 0.4 percent.

The proportions of pure alcohol in the various alcoholic beverages available for consumption have changed over time.

Between 2011 and 2025, the proportion available from:

• beer decreased from 39 percent to 37 percent
• wine decreased from 32 percent to 28 percent
• spirits (including spirit-based drinks) increased from 29 percent to 34 percent.

Decline in standard drinks available per person

The total volume of pure alcohol in alcoholic beverages available for consumption can be expressed in terms of the number of standard drinks available on a per capita basis.

A standard drink contains 10 grams of alcohol.

In 2025, the average number of standard drinks available per person was:

• 1.6 standard drinks a day (per person aged 18 years and over), down 8.4 percent from 2024, following a 4.4 percent decrease in 2024.

In 2025, the volume of alcohol available per person aged 18 years and over (as measured by the number of standard drinks), continues to fall as it has for the past five years.

Access data in Infoshare

Use Infoshare to view and download time-series data for alcohol available for consumption:

Subject category: Industry sectors
Group: Alcohol available for consumption - ALC

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Definitions and metadata

Alcohol available for consumption - DataInfo+ provides the general methodology used to produce statistics about alcohol available for consumption, and related metadata. 

Alcohol available for consumption concepts - DataInfo+ provides definitions of terms used in this release. 

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ISSN 2230-3278

Next release

Alcohol available for consumption: March 2026 quarter will be released on 25 May 2026.