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Alcohol sales dip for first time in years

Published 09.02.10   11:08 

Statistics on sales of alcohol showed a drop last year, but retailers aren’t convinced we’re drinking less People drank less alcohol in 2009 than the previous year – the first drop for several years. The latest figures for first three...

The latest figures for first three quarters of 2009 depict a 20 percent decrease in the quantity of taxable alcohol reported sold across the board. And the average of 11.7 litres of pure alcohol bought per person for the year was 1.5 litres less than five years ago.

Alcohol consumption had been gradually climbing for many years prior to 2009, according to Statistics Denmark.

But while industry businesses may lament last year’s figures, Board of Health alcohol expert Kit Broholm is one person who is pleased by the numbers.

’Nobody knows for sure why consumption has fallen. But it’s probably due to the growing focus on health and lifestyle,’ said Broholm.

’More and more people are aware of the physical and social damage caused by high alcohol consumption while trying to maintain a busy life with jobs and a family.’

Another reason, according to health experts, is that Danes are starting to embrace healthier lifestyles and exercising more.

But the nation’s largest supermarket chains, Dansk Supermarked and Coop, aren’t buying the statistics at face value. They say that more Danes are heading across the border to purchase their alcohol, and those figures therefore don’t show up in the statistics.

Although Danish supermarket giants complain about lower sales, it is because of lack of competition in Denmark that leads consumers to shop abroad in Germany and Sweden, says Erik Holm Jensen, head of border trade organisation IGG.

’Danes are at least as intelligent as other EU citizens. They follow pricing very closely,’ Jensen told news agency Newspaq.

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