A survey conducted by Demostat in October 2020 has shown that wine is becoming more and more popular among consumers in Serbia, while beer consumption continues to decline. Also, the survey revealed that wine audience is mostly made up of women, university graduates and residents of Belgrade and Vojvodina (North Serbia).

A fifth of respondents in Demostat's survey said that they do not consume alcohol at all, while 32.8 % of respondents picked beer as their first choice, 28.9 % said they prefer wine, 14.3 % chose spirits, while 2.1 % prefer another alcoholic beverage.

The research included 1,300 citizens from all over Serbia, of which 51 % were women. In terms of gender, the difference is large because 73 % of men and 27 % of women chose beer as their preferred drink. Women take the lead in the consumption of wine. Namely, out of the total number of those who chose wine in the first place, 57 % are women. When it comes to choosing spirits, then statistics goes in favor of men (60 % men vs. 40% women).

Out of a total of 21.9 % of respondents who said that they do not drink alcohol at all, the majority are women, as many as 86 %, whilst only 14 % answers came from male nondrinkers. A favorite alcoholic beverage among a third of women is wine, the survey showed, while almost half of men opt for beer (49 %).

Demostat carried out the survey on a sample consisting of respondents aged 18 or more. Most of them, almost two thirds, were in the category from 40 to 65 years of age. Almost half of the respondents are from Belgrade (48 %), followed by Vojvodina (North Serbia) with 21%, Šumadija and Western Serbia with 18% and Southern and Eastern Serbia with 13%.

The survey also showed that respondents with higher/university education predominantly consume wine (32%), followed by beer preference (29%), spirits (15%), other drinks (2%), while 22 percent of them do not consume alcohol at all.

Respondents with completed secondary school education predominantly chose beer (44%), wine was the preferred choice twice less (21%), 12% of respondents were in favor of spirits, 4% chose other alcoholic beverages and 21% were nondrinkers. The same pattern can be observed among those who have completed primary school education, with 41% of them drinking beer, while 21% opt for wine.

In terms of age structure, young generation of consumers in Serbia prefer beer, while wine comes first only in the category of people over 65 years of age. 38% of those aged between 18 and 29 choose beer as their preferred drink, 33% choose wine. An even higher percentage of "beer drinkers" is in the category of respondents aged between 30 and 39 (40%), whereas only 25% choose wine. This category also contains the lowest percentage of nondrinkers (12%).

In the category of respondents aged between 40 and 49, beer drinkers account for 31%. 27% choose wine as their preferred drink and there is the same percentage of nondrinkers in this category. Among those aged between 50 and 65, the situation is rather uniform because 33% choose beer as their preferred drink and 32% choose wine.

If you look at geographic distribution, beer is mostly consumed in Belgrade (38.8%), then in Southern and Eastern Serbia (34.2%), Šumadija and Western Serbia (29.3%) and Vojvodina (28.9%). Wine is mostly consumed in Belgrade (32.4%), followed by 30.1% in Vojvodina (North Serbia), while spirits are consumed predominantly in Southern and Eastern Serbia, 15.1%, Vojvodina 14.8%, Belgrade 13.9% and 13.2% in Šumadija and Western Serbia.

If we observe and compare results for three big cities (Belgrade, Niš and Novi Sad), beer is the preferred choice in Belgrade, followed by Niš, while wine is most popular choice in Novi Sad, followed by Belgrade. Spirits are consumed most in Niš, followed by Belgrade.

Based on the survey results, it can be concluded that in comparison with 2017, there was an overall decrease in beer consumption by 1.4% and an increase in wine consumption by 2.8%, as well as increase in spirits consumption by 2% and other alcoholic beverages by 0.6%. If we compare results from this year's survey and from the year 2017, we see a decrease in number of nondrinkers, i.e. three years ago, a quarter of respondents (25.9%) said they didn't consume alcoholic beverages, while in October 2020, they accounted for 21.9%.

(Illustrations and source: www.demostat.rs)

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