Irish alcohol market in decline — report
Irish alcohol market in decline — report
The alcohol market in Ireland is declining as it is hit by continued economic weakness, taxation increases and changing consumer behaviour, according to the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland’s (DIGI) annual ‘Drinks Market Performance Report’.
The report, by Anthony Foley of Dublin City University’s Business School, found that the volume of bar sales of alcohol continued to decline by a further 6pc in 2012. The total decline in the volume of bar sales of alcohol over the past 5 years is now 32.7pc.
This decline is having a significant impact on jobs in this employment-intensive sector, where over 6,000 bar jobs alone have been lost since 2009. The specialist off licence sector has also suffered substantial job losses since the economic collapse.
Almost 60pc of alcohol consumed in Ireland last year was sold by the off-trade. However, despite a 3pc increase in off-licence sales volumes last year, the report notes that multiples, discounters and symbol operators are absorbing this growth to the detriment of the independent, specialist off-licences, and that the latter continues to experience closures and substantial volume declines.
Since 2012, one independent off-licence has closed on average each month.