A new alcohol industry forecast shows there is little chance of alcohol-free drinks reducing global alcohol consumption, which is an order of magnitude bigger with little evidence of erosion from alcohol-frees.
Alcohol industry analyst IWSR said yesterday the global volume of “no-alcohol analogues”—alcohol-free beer, wine and spirits—would grow 36% by volume between 2024 and 2029, reaching over “18bn servings” globally.
This would bring alcohol-frees up to just 2% of the 900bn servings a year of alcoholic versions.* There is also currently no reliable evidence to suggest that alcohol-free drinks replace alcoholic drinks rather than soft drinks.
Last month a group of experts warned that public health “should not take market-led solutions to public health problems at face value” in regard to alcohol-free analogues.
AR has also been recommending scepticism about the potential of alcohol-free drinks as a solution to alcohol harm for a while. They divert valuable attention from measures shown to reduce harm.
*Note: The world consumes around 450bn litres of alcoholic drinks a year, mostly beer, which would translate into upwards of 900bn servings, if every serving were a half-litre. ■