Total sales of all categories of alcoholic beverages by beer and liquor stores grew 2.4% in British Columbia between 2012 and 2013, Statistics Canada announced April 10.
This is slightly higher than the growth seen in Canada as a whole, which increased 2.2%.
The increase in B.C. is driven by a 0.7% jump in beer sales, 4.1% in wine and 2.7% for spirits. Nationwide, the only category that showed a decrease was beer (down 0.1%).
This dip in Canada-wide beer sales reflects an increasing move by consumers from beer to wine. A decade ago, beer had a 50% market share and wine had 24%. In 2013, beer had 43% of the market and wine had grown to 32%, with beer remaining the best seller for now, with $1.2 billion in sales provincially and $9.1 billion nationwide.
The preference of red wine over white has grown from 51% of total wine sales in 2003 to 56%.
