New Zealand's per capita alcohol consumption has fallen to among the lowest in the OECD based on the most recent international figures available.
New figures from Statistics New Zealand and NZ Customs confirm that beer remains the country's favourite adult beverage and the one most firmly rooted in local manufacturing.
Just released Stats NZ data for the year ended June 2026 showed total alcohol consumption per capita fell to 6.98 litres of pure alcohol, the lowest point on record and around a third less than in 2011.
New Zealand's per capita consumption now sits among the lowest of all OECD countries.
Within that shrinking market, beer has held its position: it accounted for 59.7 percent of all alcohol available for consumption in 2026, virtually unchanged from 59.8 percent in 2020.
Wine's share fell from 23.3 percent to 19.9 percent over the same period, with spirits picking up the difference.
“These figures tell a consistent and difficult story, albeit with some positivity to be found,” said Dylan Firth, Executive Director of the Brewers Association of New Zealand.
“While New Zealanders are drinking less overall, now among the least in the OECD, and within that smaller market, beer remains their clear favourite.”
New excise data obtained by the Brewers Association of New Zealand (BANZ) from NZ Customs added a further dimension. Beer contributed 36.3 percent of the NZD 1.246 billion collected in alcohol excise and import duty over the same year.
That excise contribution against beer's dominant volume share reflects beer's naturally lower alcohol content compared with wine and spirits.
The same data showed beer's excise take is also overwhelmingly generated onshore. Of the NZD 452.1 million collected in beer excise and import duty in 2025/26, 85 percent came from beer brewed in New Zealand.
Spirits sit at the opposite end: 59 percent of spirits excise was generated by imported product, with wine roughly two-thirds domestic.
“Beer is New Zealand's highest-volume drink by a wide margin, yet it makes up little more than a third of the excise the Crown collects from alcohol, simply because beer is naturally lower in alcohol than wine or spirits. And unlike other categories, that excise is overwhelmingly generated here, by New Zealand brewers,” said Firth.
Total alcohol excise and import duty collected by the Crown has fallen for the three consecutive years, from NZD 1,301.5 million in 2022/23 to NZD 1,246.0 million in 2025/26, even as annual indexation has continued to lift over 13 percent in that same period.
“We know that the Crown excise revenue is stagnating and the sector is having to absorb these costs. But what is encouraging is that beer is New Zealand's favourite adult beverage, and it's made here. That's a strong platform, both for the industry and for the local jobs and communities that depend on it,” he said.
That pressure is being felt hardest in hospitality, the venues where most of that beer is served.
Credit reporting agency Centrix's latest data showed 422 hospitality companies entered liquidation in the past year, up 42 percent on the year before, while almost 2,900 hospitality businesses ceased trading altogether, an increase of almost 40 percent.
Hospitality's insolvency rate is now 3.3 times that of the average New Zealand business, according to Centrix. Firth added that those numbers were a distinct reminder of just how tough conditions are for the pubs, bars and restaurants that sell New Zealand beer.
Beer's strength as New Zealand's favourite drink doesn't count for much if the venues pouring it can't stay open.
Firth said the upcoming release of the Ministry for Regulation's Hospitality Review, expected in the coming weeks, offers a genuine opportunity to build on that early momentum and ease the remaining pressure.
“We applaud the Government, and in particular the Ministry for Regulation, for the comprehensive work that has gone into this review,” he said.
“We hope to see many of its recommendations taken up by this Government or any future one. Hospitality and brewing succeed or fail together.”
Firth added that BANZ would continue to champion beer's place as New Zealand's beverage of choice, and the strength of its local brewing base, as the industry navigates a period of falling overall consumption.
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