Less alcohol, more spirits

Alcohol statistics 2020/21

The decline in per capita consumption of alcohol is mainly due to fermented beverages. Spirits consumption, on the other hand, remained constant in 2020.

It should be no secret that the Corona pandemic has had an impact on the consumption behaviour of Mr and Mrs Swiss. And it is therefore hardly surprising that the lockdowns have also left their mark on the statistics of the Federal Customs Administration.

For example, wine consumption fell by 1.9 litres per person and beer consumption also declined. While per capita consumption of barley juice was still 55.5 litres in 2019, it fell by a whole eight litres to 52.8 litres per person in the pandemic year 2020. Only in the area of spirits was there a small increase in consumption - an increase of 10 cl.

Development per capita consumption of alcoholic beverages

Source: Federal Customs Administration

Import growth in rum, whisk(e)y and liqueurs

When looking at the spirits imports of the past year, the first thing that stands out is the growth in the category of sugar cane distillates. With an increase of 1 038 hectolitres of pure alcohol (+17.2 per cent), rum and cachaça recorded the greatest growth, both in percentage and absolute terms.

The front-runner in the area of spirits imports continues to be whisk(e)y. Every fifth imported spirit is a barrel-aged grain distillate. A positive trend was also observed in liqueurs. After an increase of 855 hectolitres of pure alcohol (+9 percent), these sweetened spirits reached a share of 11 percent of total imports in 2021.

Imports of gin (+0.5 per cent) and vermouth (+1.5 per cent), on the other hand, have stagnated. In these categories, however, it should not be overlooked that domestic production has risen massively in recent years. For example, while the share of gins produced in Switzerland was still around 5.1 per cent in 2018, it rose to 9.5 per cent by 2020.

On the other hand, vodka (-2.7 per cent), wine and pomace spirits (-1.7 per cent) as well as bitters, aperitifs, aniseed drinks etc. (-3.5 per cent) recorded a decline last year. (-3.5 per cent).

Spirits imports 2020 by category

Source: Federal Customs Administration
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