Production, Consumption and Recent Changes of Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages

Summary Accurate and reliable data on alcohol consumption and the production of alcoholic beverages are available mainly for western industrial countries. The consumption of each beverage type is highly concentrated in regions in which they are part of an established drinking culture. The rise of such a culture is based on both socio‐economic and natural conditions of the production of the respective beverage type. Of the three beverage groups which are distinguished by international statistics, production and consumption of wine is most clearly concentrated in certain wine areas, whereas the prevalence of beer is independent of the production of grain. Spirits are mostly consumed in countries where also grain production is voluminous. This is interpreted so that a large part of present day beer consumption takes place in new circumstances and is not tied to old traditions and beer drinking cultures. The consumption of wine is still traditional to a much greater degree.