A Statistics Canada (StatCan) survey, conducted between April 2021 and March 2022, found alcohol sales by volume in Canada had the biggest drop in years, even though alcohol revenues increased.In the one-year period StatCan says $26.1 billion worth of booze was sold in the country, through liquor authorities, wineries, breweries, bars and restaurants, an increase of 2.4% from the previous fiscal year. .StatCan attributes inflation, which rose 2.8% for alcohol, to the increase of prices. .But, by volume, sales were down 1.2%, to 3.1 billion litres, recording the first decline since the 2013-14 fiscal year and the largest sales volume drop in more than a decade. .It doesn’t necessarily mean Canucks are tossing back fewer drinks..In an interview on CTV's Your Morning, Dan Malleck, a health sciences professor at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., and an expert on alcohol policy and regulation, said that while the data could suggest Canadians are drinking less, it's possible that "a lot of these sharp declines are pandemic related.".During the pandemic, many outlets and other venues — from restaurants to sports arenas — were closed or at limited capacities. Additionally, celebratory events, such as weddings, birthday parties and Christmas dinners, were cancelled all together, affecting alcohol sales..But Malleck told CTV there are also some generational differences when it comes to drinking, with younger Canadians generally drinking less than older Canadians do..The declines were not equal across Canadians’ preferred drinks..StatCan says the drop in the volume of wine sold was the largest since it started tracking sales in 1949, although wine sales rose 2.1% by dollar value to $8.1 billion..Beer, the most popular alcoholic drink in the land, had a 2.8% drop in sales volumes to nearly 2.1 billion litres, continuing a slide that started in the 1970s and is now at the lowest level ever, with the total value of beer sales falling for a third straight year, dropping .7% to $9.1 billion.."When we look at the decline in beer sales, we have to parallel it with the growth of the craft industry taking a chunk out of the mass market beer sales," Malleck told CTV..A separate report from the Government of Canada says craft beer has grown in popularity, with sales by dollar value nearly doubling in the years before the pandemic..Cider and cooler sales by volume rose 11.9% to 370 million litres, a 13.5% increase in dollar terms to $2.1 billion..Even with market declines, StatCan says federal and provincial governments earned $13.6 billion from the control and sale of alcohol, up 1.1% and that’s about to increase..The Trudeau/Singh coalition government is raising the excise tax on alcohol by 6.3% on April 1st, adding to what is already a heavy tax burden on alcohol..Taxes already account for about half of the price of beer, 65% of the price of wine and more than 75% of the price of spirits, according to the Toronto Sun, whch says, for roughly $125, you could get two bottles of wine, a 2-4 and a 788 millilitre bottle of whisky and of that $125, on average, more than $76 is taxes..In many instances a case of beer in Canada costs more just in taxes than the cost of a case of beer in more than 20 American states..Between 2017 and 2019, federal beer taxes in Canada increased by $34 million for large brewers, while declining $31 million in the US..In the 2017 budget, the automatic tax hike escalator was introduced, based on inflation, meaning the federal excise tax automatically increases with inflation every year on April 1. .The inflation rate is at a near 40-year high, which pins the hike next month 6.3%, which means alcohol excise taxes will have increased 18.4% since 2017..Make you want to drink?
