Cigarette makers slash production

The campaign against smoking is making headway, but consumption of the ready-mixed spirits popular with young drinkers is rising.

The number of cigarettes available for consumption last year fell 17.2 per cent to a low of 2.61 billion compared with the year before, Statistics New Zealand figures released yesterday show.

Cigarette production has been falling from a peak of 6.35 billion in 1977, but last year's drop was the sharpest.

Statistics New Zealand warned that the figures should not be interpreted to represent actual consumption - there appeared to be overstocking in 2000 and less tobacco was released in the early part of last year as a result.

Cigarettes available for consumption in the December 2000 year rose 1.1 per cent, after cuts averaging more than 5 per cent in the three preceding years.

The volume of loose tobacco (used for rolls and pipes) fell 7.2 per cent to 780 tonnes last year after rising 14.2 per cent in 2000.

The volume of cigarettes and tobacco available for consumption is sensitive to changes in excise duty, which may affect the comparisons between years.

Statistics New Zealand's data also showed a sharp increase in ready-to-drink spirits, popular with young drinkers.

Spirit-based "alco-pops" were a major contributor to an increase of 3.1 million litres or 0.8 per cent in the volume of alcoholic drinks available for consumption last year.

There was a rise of 3.8 million litres, or 15.4 per cent, in the volume of spirit-based drinks available, reflecting the increasing demand for ready-to-drink beverages.

Spirit-based drinks with an alcohol content of less than 23 per cent now constitute 7 per cent of the volume of alcohol available for consumption.

The rise in the availability of the spirit-based drinks was partly offset by a decrease of 3.9 per cent in the availability of spirits with an alcohol content of 23 per cent or higher.

Total spirits and spirit-based drinks available for consumption rose 9.9 per cent last year compared with the December 2000 year.

Beer available for consumption rose 0.2 per cent last year.

There was a rise of 4.4 million litres, or 7.9 per cent, for beer with an alcohol content over 4.35 per cent.

Partly offsetting this, beer with an alcohol content between 2.5 and 4.35 per cent, which is the most common strength in New Zealand, fell by 3.5 million litres, or 1.4 per cent, compared with the December 2000 year.

The total volume of wine available decreased by 1.4 per cent last year. While the volume of New Zealand-produced wine available for domestic consumption fell by 5.7 per cent, the volume of imported wines available increased by 15.3 per cent last year.

Domestic production supplied 76 per cent of the wine available for consumption in the year to last December, compared with 79.3 per cent in the December 2000 year.

- NZPA

nzherald.co.nz/health