Aussies prefer wine to beer when it gets cheap

Price plunges encourage Australians to replace beer with wine.

Beer consumption in Australia has declined sharply over the past 12 months, with per capita beer consumption in the Thirsty Country down to a mere 7.9 litres, the lowest level since the 1950s.

According to the Australian National Bureau of Statistics, sales of beer and wine in 2009 were level pegging, with four units of wine for every five units of beer. If trends of the past two decades continue, wine is set to overtake beer as the favourite Australian bevvy.

One factor stimulating recent increases in wine consumption is the decline in pricing as Australia's wine export boom has turned to slump, flooding the country with cheap wine. Another is the unexpected competition from New Zealand winemakers who have made sauvignon blanc Australia's favourite wine.

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