The drinks market analysis firm examined markets in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, the UK, and the US.
It found that sales of non and low alcohol beer, cider, wine, spirits, and ready-to-drink increased by 6% in those countries in 2021 and now command a 3.5% volume share of the industry.
The IWSR forecasts that the category volume will grow by 8% CAGR between 2021 and 2025, compared to regular alcohol volume growth of 0.7% for the same period.
“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,” said Emily Neill, chief operating officer of IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.
“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.”
Beer and cider are the largest no and low category at 75% volume share, non-alcoholic beer is projected to drive growth at more than 11% CAGR over the 2021-2025 forecast period.
Elsewhere, non-alcoholic RTDs and spirits are both expected to grow by 14% CAGR in the same period, low-alcohol wine is expected to grow by 20% CAGR, outperforming non-alcoholic wine, which is projected to grow by 9% CAGR.
“The no/low alcohol market is still very much in its early growth stage in many categories and geographies, as the sector continues to define itself,” said Neill.
“Brands that will ultimately dominate in the no/low space are those that are successful in navigating the barriers of taste, price, pack format, availability, and overall consumer education.”
