Beer available for consumption
In 2023–24, 73.5 litres of beer per capita were made available in Australia, which is around 3.1 litres of pure alcohol per person aged 15 and over. This represented a decrease of 4.6% from 3.3 litres of pure alcohol per capita in 2022–23.
The reduction in the amount of beer made available for consumption continued the trend observed since 2008–09, with increasing availability of mid-strength beer and decreasing availability of both full-strength and low-strength beer (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Volume of beer available for consumption from 2000–01 to 2023–24 ('000 litres)
The volume of low strength, mid strength, and full strength beers available for consumption from 2000–01 to 2023–24.
| Financial year | Low strength | Mid strength | Full strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 234522 | 197852 | 1356366 |
| 2001–02 | 229965 | 203817 | 1328807 |
| 2002–03 | 235531 | 217772 | 1354094 |
| 2003–04 | 229417 | 248835 | 1281984 |
| 2004–05 | 229080 | 240978 | 1278128 |
| 2005–06 | 218045 | 251676 | 1305476 |
| 2006–07 | 199543 | 268015 | 1337285 |
| 2007–08 | 176954 | 271783 | 1373347 |
| 2008–09 | 156871 | 281801 | 1434339 |
| 2009–10 | 144579 | 289815 | 1421716 |
| 2010–11 | 128778 | 291579 | 1388455 |
| 2011–12 | 113295 | 296888 | 1352262 |
| 2012–13 | 102642 | 307815 | 1319626 |
| 2013–14 | 93945 | 331734 | 1330485 |
| 2014–15 | 76030 | 318981 | 1274608 |
| 2015–16 | 69871 | 346982 | 1307300 |
| 2016–17 | 69685 | 369979 | 1222018 |
| 2017–18 | 88654 | 377058 | 1295897 |
| 2018–19 | 83174 | 378739 | 1289637 |
| 2019–20 | 63650 | 381767 | 1251264 |
| 2020–21 | 55322 | 397560 | 1274008 |
| 2021–22 | 46190 | 398768 | 1212070 |
| 2022–23 | 40362 | 414683 | 1205487 |
| 2023–24 | 35564 | 429417 | 1163863 |
- Low strength includes beer with an alcohol content not exceeding 3%.
- Mid strength includes beer with an alcohol content exceeding 3% but not exceeding 3.5%.
- Full strength includes beer with an alcohol content exceeding 3.5%.
Source: AIHW 2025 (Table 2)