Global alcohol consumption grew by 0.01% in 2017, or 3.5 million nine-litre cases, thanks to increased sales of wine and cider, according to market researcher IWSR.
The positive figures follow on from a decline of 1.2% in global alcohol consumption in 2016.
Wine contributed to the largest gain in global volume, followed by cider. Spirits declined marginally, and beer and mixed drinks consumption continued their downturn.
After a static year in 2016, still, wine staged a comeback in 2017, gaining 12 million cases (0.5%). Italy, Russia and the US were the top growth markets for still wine, while the UK and France saw the largest declines.
IWSR said that these mature wine markets are losing out to generational shifts in drinks choices; cider and sparkling wine growth in the UK counteracted the decline of still wine, and in France, beer consumption rose strongly.
The fastest-growing regions for spirits were Asia-Pacific and the Americas. The continued growth of baijiu in China is the main contributor to the Asia-Pacific volumes, but whisky also performed well in the region, adding 2.7 million cases between 2016 and 2017 (1.2%).
Whisky grew by 2.7 million cases in the Americas (3.2%), and vodka added 1.7 million cases (1.8%). Agave-based spirits were the best-performing category in the region by percentage growth, growing 5.3%.
The Commonwealth of Independent States was the only region to see a decline in spirits consumption, falling 7.6%, due to the decrease of vodka consumption in Russia and Ukraine. Government pressures and generational shifts are said to have contributed to these ongoing declines.
In percentage terms, agave-based spirits were the fastest-growing category globally (up 5.2%), followed by gin (4.5%) and whisky (2%). The US was the largest-growth market for agave-based spirits and whisky, and the UK was the largest-growth market for gin.
Beer returned to growth in the Americas, led by Mexico and Argentina, despite continued declines in the US. Positive results in the Americas along with strong growth in Africa, the Middle East and Europe helped to slow the global decline of beer consumption.
Though cider growth in Europe has slowed, momentum in Africa and the Middle East helped spur a 2.5% global volume increase. The mixed drinks market declined by -1%, led by a slowdown in Asia-Pacific and further category negative trends in the CIS and the Americas.
