The no- and low-alcohol beverage industry is currently valued just shy of $10 billion USD across 10 different key global markets according to IWSR, a beverage market and data analysis firm. The IWSR also forecasts that this industry will grow by +8 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2021 and 2025, compared to only +0.7 percent growth for the standard alcohol industry.
In 2021, no- and low-alcohol beer, cider, spirits, wine and ready-to-drink products expanded to more than 6 percent in volume and now control 3.5 percent of the volume share of the entire beverage alcohol industry.
“While January has become a popular month for people to cut back or abstain from alcohol, interest in no- and low-alcohol drinks has increasingly become a year-round trend among consumers across the world,” Emily Neill, COO of IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, said in the report. “To meet that demand, beverage alcohol companies have invested heavily to introduce a number of innovative new products, and many established mainstream brands have recently crossed over to develop no/low alcohol versions of their popular beer, wines, and spirits.”
No- and low-alcohol beer and cider is the largest sector of this industry, with 75 percent volume share, and a projected +11 percent CAGR for the 2021-2025 period. Non-alcoholic RTDs and spirits each are projected to see +14 percent CAGR, while non-alcoholic wines are expected to see +9 percent CAGR. Low-alcohol wines is the only sector predicted to outperform its alcohol-free counterpart, with a projected +20 percent CAGR.
The 10 markets analyzed by the IWSR include Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Of those markets, the one with the highest growth in 2021 was the U.S. with +31 percent CAGR, while the total volume of products in Japan decreased -1 percent.
At Vinepair over the past month, the growth and popularity of this industry has become apparent — with craft purveyors, industry giants, and celebrities all throwing their hats in the booze-free ring. Not only is the industry serving those who are “sober-curious,” or entirely abstaining from alcohol, but also those looking to make more conscious decisions surrounding their drinking habits.
