Migration helps alcohol consumption in Australia drop to 50-year low

Australians seem to be drinking less alcohol as per new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and immigration could be one of the factors behind it. So how are migrants affecting Australia's drinking culture?

A beer is poured at the Willie the Boatman brewery in Sydney. Source: AAP Image/Daniel Munoz

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows less alcohol was consumed in the past year.

The Bureau of Statistics says almost 186 million litres of pure alcohol was consumed from 2016 to 2017 - that's 2.4 million litres less than the previous year.

That means 9.4 litres of pure alcohol each year is consumed for every person aged 15 years or over - the equivalent of 2.6 standard drinks per person per day.

Louise Gates, from the Bureau of Statistics, says the proportion of people who don't drink or rarely drink has been increasing over time leading to alcohol consumption falling to its lowest level since 1961.

Overseas residents with a culture of alcohol abstinence immigrating to Australia could be one of the factors behind the fall.

ReachOut Australia CEO Jono Nicolas believes this generation of young people, in particular, are drinking less, smoking less, are probably one of the safest generations of young people in history.

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