Alcohol sales continue to decline in Scotland
A report published today by NHS Health Scotland shows a continued decline in the amount of alcohol sold per adult in Scotland over the last three years. This downward trend in retail sales was visible across all drinks categories, except cider.
Alcohol sales provide the best estimate of population levels of consumption. Analysis of the most recent data suggests that per adult sales of pure alcohol in Scotland fell by 3 per cent between 2011 and 2012, which means an 8 per cent fall since 2009 – that’s equivalent to around 10 million fewer bottles of wine, 3 million fewer bottles of spirits or 35 million fewer pints of beer per year.
Despite this decline, alcohol sales remained 6 per cent higher than they were in 1994 and 19% higher than in England and Wales. The difference between Scotland and England & Wales in 2012 was mainly due to higher sales through supermarkets and off-licences in Scotland, particularly of lower priced spirits. Spirits sold at less than 50 pence per unit (ppu), the price proposed for minimum pricing, accounted for over half of the total difference in off-sales.
The Update of alcohol sales and price band analyses (August 2013) report also highlights that while prices have increased over the last year there are still large proportions of alcoholic drinks being sold at lower prices. In 2012, 26 per cent of off-sales alcohol was sold at below 40ppu and 60 per cent below 50ppu.
Mark Robinson, Public Health Information Manager at NHS Health Scotland, said:
“It is good news for Scotland’s health and wellbeing that alcohol consumption is starting to decline. We know that the ban on multi-buy promotions was associated with a fall in sales and that alcohol affordability has declined as a result of the challenging economic climate. Other policy actions, such as alcohol brief interventions for hazardous and harmful drinkers, are also likely to be having an impact.
“However, although these positive effects are welcome, we’re still drinking too much as a nation and a large proportion of alcohol is still being sold at relatively low prices.
“There is a need to continue action on a number of fronts, including on minimum unit pricing, to ensure the welcome decline in alcohol consumption and harms does not reverse.”
In another report published by NHS Health Scotland today, The price distribution of wine from different countries of origin sold in Scotland’s off-trade, it was shown that, in 2011, most wine sold in Scotland’s off-sales was produced by Australia (18 per cent), Italy (15 per cent), USA (11 per cent) and France (10 per cent). Of the 10 wine-producing countries with the highest alcohol sales in Scotland’s off-sales, the majority of wine originating in four countries was sold at below 50ppu: Italy, Chile, South Africa, and Spain. Despite accounting for a very small proportion of Scotland’s off-sales wine market, sales of wine from Portugal, Bulgaria and Romania were also analysed and were found to be more likely to be sold at cheaper prices.