After remaining relatively stable for some years, the total sales of alcoholic beverages in the United States have begun to rise. Since 2011 sales have increased by 30 percent, averaging an increase of roughly 4.3 percent per year.

Where is the growth coming from?

If we look at the different segments within the alcoholic beverage industry, we see that beer has been losing market share to spirits and to a lesser extent wine. Since 2010, spirits have gathered an additional 10 percent of the alcohol market while beer has lost the same amount over that time. Furthermore, over the last 5 years, sales of beer have remained stagnant or declined, while spirits have exploded, averaging over 13 percent sales growth per year. The rise in total alcohol sales might then be explained by this shift towards spirits, where in 2018 the “high end” and “super premium” categories experienced much larger sales growth than the lower “premium” and “value” categories.