Surprising, the overall alcohol consumption has gone possibly into a decline.

As you know, alcohol is habit forming. It is necessary to consume more quantity get the same effect as the body cells get used to it. Alcohol consumption is as old as civilization itself. Alcohol slackens the inhibitions at social gatherings. It adds colour to an otherwise monotonous life. It puts a little sparkle to our routine life. The very fact that alcohol consumption is dwindling gives us hope that other long-standing practices could also alter in time to come — non-vegetarian food, smoking and sexual promiscuity. It is difficult to assess a decline of such a practice until years after it happens. Such shifts are mysterious. They are difficult to forecast. A hiker always feels he is at the peak, while in reality he has not got there. However, transitions do happen.

Grape wine reached a peak production of 37.5 million metric tonnes (equivalent to 50 billion bottles) in 1979. Since then, it has fallen by about 27 per cent. Wine consumption is promoted for its health benefits. In beer too, 190 million tonnes were brewed in 2016, or roughly half a trillion standard bottles. Per capita consumption in drinking has fallen down from 5 liters of pure alcohol per adult (2013) to 3.9 liters (2023). If we add demographics here, the thirst was at its peak in 2016 (25.4 billion liters) from where it has fallen about 13 per cent.

The world population now is 8 billion plus. It may reach 10.3 billion in the 2080s. The hardest drinking parts of the world (Africa to S.E. Asia) already had demographic booms. The Muslim world is unlikely to be a strong market for brewers.

It is easy to surmise that the world has already passed peak booze consumption (2015). It amounts to six standard drinks per adult per week.

A historic moment for humanity which fiddle with alcohol from pre-historic times. Remnants of fermented grains were left about 13000 years ago in Israel. People used to collect and eat wild grass seeds. It led to domestication of cereal crops. That led to urbanization. Civilization itself could have been a by-product of alcohol consumption.

Despite consuming a lower quantum of alcohol, we may have to pay more for it as we take to finer spirits to align with our wealthier lifestyles.

Though the world continues to sober up, it has not altogether kicked off the habit yet.