Alcohol available for consumption in New Zealand decreased to 477 million litres in the year ended December 2023, a fall of 4.3 percent from 2022, according to statistics released by Stats NZ today.
"This is the largest fall we've seen over the past 15 years," international trade manager Alasdair Allen said.
"The last year was a challenging one for domestic producers, with a number of challenges including adverse weather events. We have also seen a reduction in imports of beer and wine."
The volume of beer available fell by 13 million litres (4.4 percent), wine fell by 2.4 million litres (2.4 percent), and spirits and spirit-based drinks fell by 5.9 million litres (5.7 percent).
| Year | Spirits | Wine | Beer |
| 2009 | 69632342 | 95295093 | 306181417 |
| 2010 | 72077476 | 102613953 | 299347969 |
| 2011 | 74737369 | 97888184 | 299793983 |
| 2012 | 74891166 | 102218198 | 279934321 |
| 2013 | 71167286 | 105926341 | 288810995 |
| 2014 | 66681360 | 107568057 | 282290457 |
| 2015 | 68652006 | 103971664 | 281974795 |
| 2016 | 72589307 | 108897661 | 292411531 |
| 2017 | 76545179 | 110569396 | 288996613 |
| 2018 | 80319226 | 109075619 | 293011579 |
| 2019 | 84818537 | 108262585 | 297723781 |
| 2020 | 89329153 | 112889843 | 292704423 |
| 2021 | 99785841 | 107342714 | 292136010 |
| 2022 | 103021340 | 101035294 | 293711940 |
| 2023 | 97135057 | 98645543 | 280819852 |
Beer volumes fall
The total volume of beer available fell 4.4 percent, following a rise of 0.5 percent in 2022 and a fall of 0.2 percent in 2021.
There were falls across all strengths of beer:
- under 2.5 percent alcohol content fell 5.7 percent to 6.5 million litres
- between 2.5 and 4.35 percent fell 6.0 percent to 71 million litres
- between 4.35 and 5 percent fell 3.9 percent to 170 million litres
- above 5 percent fell 3.2 percent, to 33 million litres.
"This was the largest decrease in beer volumes since a fall of 6.6 percent in 2012," Allen said.
| Year | Up to 2.5% | 2.5-4.35% | 4.35-5% | More than 5% |
| 2009 | 3042652.91 | 192503317 | 103668817.4 | 6966630.4 |
| 2010 | 2978896.44 | 176058501.7 | 111543142.5 | 8767429 |
| 2011 | 2984088.92 | 172188337.2 | 115665676.1 | 8955880.35 |
| 2012 | 2339463.52 | 157048257.4 | 106078711 | 14467889.16 |
| 2013 | 3364086.78 | 155860752 | 116720212.9 | 12865943.53 |
| 2014 | 5600779.22 | 144311862 | 118805665.2 | 13572150.5 |
| 2015 | 9556110.98 | 134963356.3 | 118756552.5 | 18698775.15 |
| 2016 | 9221824.74 | 135027771.6 | 126302524.6 | 21859409.7 |
| 2017 | 7857949.88 | 120536185.1 | 131407733 | 29194745.41 |
| 2018 | 7374904.5 | 111780688 | 138585625.4 | 35270361.15 |
| 2019 | 6836478.31 | 115581227.9 | 136251842.9 | 39054231.61 |
| 2020 | 6280283.67 | 114186522.4 | 126928993.7 | 45308623.65 |
| 2021 | 7851274.72 | 96102031.08 | 140746634.1 | 47436070.04 |
| 2022 | 6904238.34 | 75832541.57 | 177267092.9 | 33708066.89 |
| 2023 | 6509977.34 | 71319884.37 | 170368471.1 | 32621519.17 |
Imports of beer decreased 5.1 percent to 4.2 million litres, following a 10 percent fall in 2022 and a 50 percent fall in 2021.
Wine volumes continue to fall
Volumes of wine had the smallest decrease out of the three types of alcohol available for consumption with a fall of 2.4 percent to 99 million litres.
| Year | Wine from grapes | Wine from other fruits and vegetables |
| 2009 | 89857825 | 5437267 |
| 2010 | 95367309.53 | 7246643.86 |
| 2011 | 89894580.19 | 7993603.88 |
| 2012 | 91771123.21 | 10447074.43 |
| 2013 | 90264093.05 | 15662247.64 |
| 2014 | 93684924.26 | 13883132.52 |
| 2015 | 89476654.13 | 14495009.93 |
| 2016 | 94047123.64 | 14850536.85 |
| 2017 | 94504969.58 | 16064426.67 |
| 2018 | 92056683 | 17018945.87 |
| 2019 | 89614196.89 | 18648388.07 |
| 2020 | 93937061.17 | 18952782.01 |
| 2021 | 88979962.6 | 18362751.72 |
| 2022 | 84148224.05 | 16887070.22 |
| 2023 | 81916888.78 | 16728653.82 |
The quantity of wine imported for the year ended December 2023 fell 9.9 percent compared with 2022, to 40 million litres. This followed a slight rise of 0.6 percent in 2022 and a fall of 6.0 percent in 2021.
Wine exports in 2023 also fell, by 9.0 percent compared with 2022, to 269 million litres. This followed a rise of 5.0 percent in 2022 and a fall of 7.3 percent in 2021.
Spirit-based drink volumes drop
Out of all the beverage types, spirits-based drinks such as ready-to-drink beverages decreased the most in 2023, by 7.0 percent. This followed a 3.8 percent increase in 2022 and a 14 percent increase in 2021.
The volume of traditional spirits, such as vodka, whisky, and gin, remained relatively flat with an increase of 1.4 percent.
