Volume of pure alcohol available for consumption in New Zealand
1989–2025, millions of litres of alcohol (calculated)
| Year | Millions of litres of alcohol |
|---|---|
| 1989 | 26.199 |
| 1990 | 26.851 |
| 1991 | 25.94 |
| 1992 | 25.807 |
| 1993 | 24.843 |
| 1994 | 25.777 |
| 1995 | 25.556 |
| 1996 | 25.158 |
| 1997 | 25.155 |
| 1998 | 25.328 |
| 1999 | 26.071 |
| 2000 | 26.341 |
| 2001 | 26.34 |
| 2002 | 28.016 |
| 2003 | 27.978 |
| 2004 | 29.246 |
| 2005 | 30.246 |
| 2006 | 30.817 |
| 2007 | 30.713 |
| 2008 | 32.095 |
| 2009 | 31.683 |
| 2010 | 33.438 |
| 2011 | 33.186 |
| 2012 | 32.61 |
| 2013 | 32.873 |
| 2014 | 32.779 |
| 2015 | 32.061 |
| 2016 | 33.698 |
| 2017 | 34.19 |
| 2018 | 34.754 |
| 2019 | 35.289 |
| 2020 | 35.99 |
| 2021 | 36.28 |
| 2022 | 36.034 |
| 2023 | 34.965 |
| 2024 | 33.876 |
| 2025 | 31.294 |
Definitions
Spirits with an alcohol content of less than or equal to 23%: Spirit-based drinks. They include RTDs (ready-to-drink beverages), and wines that are spirit based.
Pure alcohol: Ethanol or ethyl alcohol.
Exclusions
Stats NZ exclude domestically produced beer and wine with less than 1.15 percent alcohol content, and alcoholic beverages produced by private individuals at home.
Data provided by
Dataset name
Alcohol Available for Consumption: Litres of Alcohol (Annual-Dec) December 2025
Webpage:
https://infoshare.stats.govt.nz/
How to find the data
Infoshare > Industry Sectors > Alcohol Available for Consumption - ALC > Litres of Alcohol (Annual-Dec).
All variables were selected to produce this dataset.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: Alcohol Available for Consumption: Litres of Alcohol (Annual-Dec) December 2025
From the dataset Alcohol Available for Consumption: Litres of Alcohol (Annual-Dec) December 2025, this data was extracted:
- Rows: 3-44
- Columns: 2-41
- Provided: 714 data points
This data forms the table Alcohol - Litres of alcohol available for consumption by type Year ended December 1984–2025.
Dataset originally released on:
February 25, 2026
About this dataset
The statistics in this release measure how much alcoholic beverage is released to the domestic market, and therefore available for consumption. The statistics do not measure actual consumption. Information is not available to measure the change in the level of stocks that are held before sale and therefore, not yet consumed. The figures also exclude alcoholic beverages produced by households.
This release includes statistics for beer, spirits, spirit-based drinks, and wine (includes cider).
Method of collection/Data provider
The volume of alcohol available for consumption comes solely from administrative data. No direct surveying occurs. Stats NZ obtain information from two sources: New Zealand Customs Service (NZCS) and their own merchandise trade statistics.
NZCS provides figures on beer, spirits, spirit-based drinks, and wine produced for local consumption on which duty is paid; the merchandise trade statistics provide data on imports less re-exports.