Per capita, 7.7 litres of pure alcohol are still consumed per year in Switzerland. In the last 10 years, alcohol consumption has decreased by 1 litre of pure alcohol. While the consumption of spirits remained constant, the beer consumption of the average Swiss increased by one large (5 dl). In the case of wine, per capita consumption fell by 8 dl.
Marginal increase in spirits imports
After a decline in spirits imports in 2018, they increased marginally by 0.6 per cent in 2019. Within the various spirits categories, the changes were dramatic in some cases. Imports of gin grew the most - converted to pure alcohol - at 1 253 hectolitres (+16.7 per cent), following an increase in the previous year. Whisky and rum were imported more again in 2019 compared to the previous year. Both categories are again closer to the peak in 2017 (or 2016 in the case of rum).
After an upward outlier in 2018, vodka imports have corrected themselves again with a downward outlier in 2019. Consequently, the 26 per cent decline is less dramatic than it seems at first glance.
Aperitifs and vermouth on the rise
An important category that also grew in 2019 concerns aperitifs and bitters. Imports of these spirits grew by 4.5 per cent. An even stronger growth was recorded for aromatised wines such as vermouth. While 2 048 hectolitres (converted to pure alcohol) were imported in 2017, this figure had already risen to 3 229 hectolitres in 2019.
