New Zealand: Volume of craft beer produced almost trebles over five years

The volumes of craft beer produced over the past five years has almost trebled, Stats NZ figures released on February 26 show.

Last year alone, the volume of high-strength beer increased by 21% - the rise in craft beer was partly offset by a fall in lower-strength beers, Stats NZ said.

The volume of high-strength beer reached 35 million litres in 2018, accounting for more than 10% of all beer available.

Figures show the overall volume of beer in the market increased 1.4% last year, up from a 1.2% fall recorded a year earlier.

Stats NZ international statistics manager Tehseen Islam said volume increases reflected the rising popularity of craft beer.

New Zealand's beer industry is worth NZ$2.3 billion and is made up of 218 breweries, according to a report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER).

There are 4.6 breweries for every 100,000 people in the country - more breweries per capita than anywhere else in the world.

Craft beer has been growing exponentially since 2008 and last year represented 10% of all sales, the report outlined.

Around 83% of the beer available for consumption last year was made in New Zealand and 17% was imported.

Just 10% of all beer produced in New Zealand is exported.

Other figures released today show spirits and spirit-based drinks such as RTDs are amongst the fastest growing sectors in the alcoholic drinks market.

Total spirit volumes rose 4.9% last year and volumes for traditional spirits such as whiskey and gin increased 5.5%.

Volumes of wine in the market fell 1.3% last year.

In 2018, there was enough alcohol in the domestic market for each adult New Zealander to have 2 standard drinks per day.

"In 2010, the average adult would have had about 800 standard drinks available to consume. By 2018, that was down to about 730 a year," Islam said.

Visitors to New Zealand spent NZ$242 million on beer last year.

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