IN DEPTH
High Spirits
Alcohol: by the numbers
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 | 5:03 PM ET
CBC News
$18 billion
Total sales at beer and liquor stores in Canada in the fiscal year ending March 2007, a five per cent increase from the previous year.
47
Beer sales comprised 47 per cent of total alcohol sales in 2007. That's down from 52 per cent in 1997.
2.3 billion
Number of litres of beer Canadians purchased in 2007.
28
Wine accounted for 28 per cent of the alcohol market in 2007, up from 21 per cent in 1997.
71
71 per cent of spirits sold in Canada in 2007 were Canadian spirits, with whisky, scotch and bourbon being the most popular choices.
$667
The amount, on average, each Canadian spent on alcohol in 2007.
$463
The amount that alcohol abuse costs every Canadian a year, in lost productivity, heath-care costs and crime-related costs, according to a 2008 study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
5
Alcohol's ranking on a list of harmful substances, behind heroin, cocaine, barbiturates and street methadone. Cannabis was 11th on the list, compiled by researchers at Bristol University in the U.K.
1,280-1,500
Mothers Against Drunk Driving estimates that there are between 1,280 and 1,500 deaths as a result of impaired driving in Canada every year, or about four every day.
Per Capita Consumption* of Alcoholic Beverages in Litres** (2007) | |||||
| Region | Total Alcohol (l) | Beer (l) | Wine (l) | Spirits (l) | Coolers (l) |
| Canada | 115.75 | 92.04 | 14.77 | 5.90 | 3.04 |
| Ontario | 112.64 | 89.66 | 14.09 | 5.78 | 3.11 |
| Quebec | 123.25 | 98.29 | 20.62 | 3.11 | 1.23 |
| Alberta | 130.7 | 104.00 | 11.35 | 9.58 | 5.77 |
| B.C. | 107.58 | 81.50 | 15.37 | 7.23 | 3.48 |
| Manitoba | 105.55 | 86.39 | 9.08 | 7.20 | 2.88 |
| Saskatchewan | 102.58 | 83.24 | 7.92 | 8.03 | 3.39 |
| Yukon | 184.04 | 151.64 | 16.61 | 10.95 | 4.84 |
| N.W.T./Nunavut | 96.32 | 76.11 | 6.54 | 9.15 | 4.52 |
| Newfoundland | 117.76 | 100.02 | 5.99 | 8.48 | 3.27 |
| Nova Scotia | 107.36 | 86.67 | 10.10 | 7.04 | 3.55 |
| New Brunswick | 104.15 | 86.44 | 7.79 | 4.85 | 5.07 |
| P.E.I. | 106.86 | 85.98 | 9.29 | 7.43 | 4.16 |
| Source: Brewers' Association of Canada *Based on legal drinking age population (19+; 18+ in Que., Man., Alta.). **Litres are litres of alcoholic beverages consumed, not pure alcohol as in other studies. | |||||
