Alcohol consumption fell by 2.7 per cent in 2023 compared with 2022. According to preliminary data from the Central Association for Alcohol and Drug Education (Centralförbundet för alkohol- och narkotikaupplysning – CAN), about 8.6 litres of pure alcohol were consumed per person aged 15 and over.
The measurements have been carried out since 2000 with the aim of calculating total alcohol consumption in Sweden and changes between different years. It includes registered sales of alcohol at Systembolaget, restaurants and grocery stores, as well as the unregistered part, which consists of travel imports, purchases of smuggled alcohol, purchases via the Internet and home production.
Last year, Swedes’ consumption fell by 2.7 per cent, which, apart from 2020, is the biggest drop since 2014. The registered share fell by 1.7 percent last year compared to the previous year, which in pure alcohol amounts to 7.4 litres. Systembolaget’s sales alone amounted to 6.09 litres of pure alcohol per inhabitant.
Among the unregistered, consumption fell by nine per cent compared with 2022, when it amounted to 1.2 litres of pure alcohol.
– This shows that the economic situation in 2023 has also affected the purchase of alcohol, says Björn Trolldal, investigator and researcher at CAN, in a press release.
