The Gin Revolution has had quite an impact on us too.
Alcohol consumption in Ireland has decreased by almost 18% over the past decade, a new report has found.
Irish people have started to favour wines and spirits more and more in recent years, but overall, our levels of consumption have steadily declined, falling by 1.4% per adult in 2017.
This is according to the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland, which has compiled The Drinks Market Performance 2017 report in order to assess our current attitudes towards alcohol.
The report has found that spirits made up almost a fifth of the alcohol product market in 2017 (19.8%), which is an increase of 3.6% on the previous year.
However, beer remains the nation's most popular drink, as it made up 44.8% share of the market during 2017.
Despite that, the rate of beer consumption has fallen by 2.1% compared to 2016, while wine consumption has risen by 0.4% during the same period, making up 27.7% of the market.
That's a smaller increase in recent times, but overall, it appears Ireland has really come around to wine as its rate of consumption has nearly doubled in the last 16 years, having made up just 14.3% of the market back in 2001.
Overall, Ireland is drinking much less. The average rate of consumption per adult last year was 11.08 litres of pure alcohol, which is a drop of 1.4% since 2016. The long-term trend is even more substantial, as the total consumption of litres of pure alcohol has fallen 23% per adult since 2001.
Commenting on the report, Donal O’Keeffe, Secretary of DIGI and CEO of the Licensed Vintners Association, said the report demonstrates the "diversity of the Irish drinks market" at present.
"The Irish drinks market is highly competitive and constantly evolving in line with consumer preferences and tastes," O'Keefe said.
"What we’ve witnessed over the last decade, but particularly over the last five years, is the growth of a nationwide network of businesses flexible and eager to serve shifts in consumer taste, and develop new, innovative products and services.
"The drinks industry is integral to Ireland's economic health. 92,000 people work in the drinks industry alone, and the combined hospitality sector, which includes pubs, hotels, restaurants, breweries, distilleries, retailers, manufacturers and distributors, employs almost 210,000 people across the country. That's 10 percent of all jobs, or €1.25 billion worth of exports a year.
"'Uncertainty' is the word of the day. Brexit makes it harder for exporters to plan for the future. If it's harder to trade with Great Britain or Northern Ireland, and sterling remains weak, revenues will decline due to trade barriers and a decrease in overseas visitors."
