Albertans love their beer.

The alcoholic beverage remains the biggest seller in the province compared to wine and spirits, according to Statistics Canada data.

“After contracting by 3.4 per cent in the fiscal year 2016/17, alcoholic beverage sales in Alberta expanded by 1.3 per cent in 2017/18. Total sales reached $2.58 billion, still $56.3 million below the record set in 2015/16. Nationally, total sales were up 3.1 per cent to $23.18 billion. On a per capita basis, alcohol sales in Alberta edged up just 0.2 per cent compared to 1.8 per cent nationally,” said ATB Financial’s Economics & Research Team in The Owl, which is its daily economic update.

“Wine was the big winner in terms of sales growth, with sales increasing by 3 per cent compared to the previous year. Beer sales were essentially flat, growing by only 0.04 per cent, though they still make up the largest portion of total sales at 41.2 per cent. Spirits came in second at 29.3 per cent, followed by wine (23.6 per cent) then ciders, coolers and other beverages (5.8 per cent).”

In terms of the number of litres sold, both beer and spirits were down by 1.1 per cent in 2017/18. The volume of wine sold was up by two per cent. Ciders, coolers and other beverages were up by seven per cent, said ATB.

– Mario Toneguzzi

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