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May 13, 2020CONTROL AND SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, YEAR ENDING MARCH 31, 2019 The total volume of alcohol sold in Nova Scotia increased 0.2 per cent to 79,001 litres in 2018/2019. A total of $628.8 million worth of alcoholic beverages were sold in Nova Scotia, up 0.5 per cent from $625.5 million in 2017/2018 period.
Net income and other government revenue derived from the control and sale of alcoholic beverages in Nova Scotia, including excise taxes, retail sales taxes, specific taxes on alcohol, and licence and permit revenues, declined 1.8 per cent from $393.1 million in the previous fiscal year to $386.2 million in 2018/2019.
Beer sales (44%) accounted for the largest share of the total alcoholic beverage sales in 2018/2019, followed by spirits (26%) and wine (23%). Ciders, Coolers, and Other Refreshment Beverages accounted for the remaining 7 per cent of the total alcoholic beverage sales.
Beer sales in Nova Scotia declined 0.8 per cent from the previous year to $275.8 million in 2018/2019. By volume, beer sales were also saw an annual decline of 0.9 per cent to 58,148 litres.
The value of wine sales declined 1.1 per cent to $142.9 million in 2018/2019. The volume of wine sales declined 2.7 per cent from 10,035 litres in the previous fiscal year to 9,764 litres.
Looking at spirits, the value of spirit sales was unchanged from the previous fiscal year at $165.7 million while the volume of spirit sales declined 0.7 per cent year-over-year to 4,904 litres in 2018/2019.
Ciders, coolers, and other refreshment beverages was the only category to post an annual increase in Nova Scotia. Overall, $44.5 million worth of ciders, coolers, and other refreshment beverages were sold in 2018/2019, up 19.6 per cent from the previous fiscal year. The volume of ciders, coolers, and other refreshment beverages sales increased 19.4 per cent from 5,182 litres in the previous year to 6,185 litres in 2018/2019.
Nationally, the total volume of alcohol sold increased 0.2 per cent to 3,094 million litres in 2018/2019, equivalent to 9.5 standard drinks per week per person over the legal drinking age in Canada.
Overall, $23.6 billion worth of alcoholic beverages were sold in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, up 2.2% from the previous year.
Net income and other government revenue derived from the control and sale of alcoholic beverages, including excise taxes, retail sales taxes, specific taxes on alcohol, and licence and permit revenues, increased 2.1% from the previous fiscal year to $12.4 billion in 2018/2019.
Looking at the year-over-year changes in the total value of national sales by type:
- Wine sales increased 0.2 per cent to $7.5 billion in 2018/2019, posting the slowest pace since Statistics Canada began tracking alcohol sales in 1950.
- Beer sales were up 2.0 per cent from a year earlier to $9.4 billion in 2018/2019, posting the fastest pace of growth since 2014/2015.
- Spirit sales increased 3.1 per cent from a year earlier to $5.7 billion.
- Ciders, coolers, and other refreshment beverages increased 15.0 per cent from the previous year to $1.1 billion in 2018/2019.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 10-10-0010-01 Sales of alcoholic beverages types by liquor authorities and other retail outlets, by value, volume, and absolute volume
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