Italian consumption of alcoholic drinks reached an estimated 4.5 billion litres in 2007, a decline of 6% on 2002 – a downward trend that is forecast to continue. However, while demand for wine is steadily diminishing and spirits & liqueurs are slowly losing ground, beer is seeing a healthy growth trend, up by 12% in the 2002-07 review period.

Despite the negative trend (volumes declined by 16% from 2002 to 2007), wine remains the largest alcoholic drinks sector in Italy, and per capita consumption remains higher than the EU average. By contrast, Italian per capita consumption of beer is one of the lowest in Europe.

While volumes present different trends, value sales have grown, thanks to increasing premiumisation as well as rising excise duties and price rises due to increased cost of raw materials.

Mintel last examined the Italians’ alcohol consumption in Drinking Habits, Consumer Goods Intelligence, December 2006. Some data have been revised since the previous report due to new information from the trade.

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