India has lowest beer consumption in Asia
24 Mar 2018
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India has one of the lowest levels of beer consumption per capita in Asia, says a BMI Research report.
This also accords the country a favourable outlook for growth of the beer market due to growing affluence and changing social and cultural attitudes towards the beverage.
The report pegged conservative attitudes, licensing regulations and restrictions on the sale of alcohol in certain states and a preference for locally produced spirits such as whisky for the low consumption.
The report said the total alcohol consumption in India was 5.1 litres per capita in 2018, considerably lower than other Asian markets with a per capita average of 20.9 litres.
The report noted government regulations and hike in duties remain a risk to India's developing beer market, adding that the outlook for beer in India is favourable cultural attitudes change and a young, increasingly affluent population enters the market.
The report also says rising disposable incomes, aspirational lifestyles, cheaper locally produced products and emerging craft beer culture, for potential growth.
"We forecast beer sales in volume terms to grow by an average of 6.9 per cent annually between 2018 and 2022, reaching 6.5 billion litres in total by the end of this period, up from an estimated 4.7 billion litres in 2017," the Fitch Group company said in a statement.
