It’s International Beer Day. What do Indians like to say cheers to?

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The international beer day is celebrated on the first Friday of every August. Worldover, beer is the second most consumed alcoholic beverage (34.3 percent), after spirits (44.8 percent), followed by wine (11.7 percent), according to the World Health Organisation’s (WHOs) Global status report on alcohol and health 2018.

The situation is no different in India. The WHO report also reveals that spirits are the most consumed (92 percent) alcoholic beverage in India in terms of per capita consumption (in litres of pure alcohol), followed by beer (8 percent) and wine (less than 1 percent).

Another official survey commissioned by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment too reveals similar findings although the numbers vary.

“Country liquor or desi sharab (about 30 percent) and spirits or Indian Made Foreign Liquor (about 30 percent) were the most preferred alcoholic beverages among current users,” the Magnitude of Substance Use in India 2019 report said.

The other commonly consumed beverages by current alcohol users are: beer about 21 percent (strong beer 12 percent; light beer 9 percent); followed by home brewed alcohol (11 percent) and wine (4 percent).

“Proportion reporting predominant use of low-alcohol content beverages (like beer, wine) was small at the national level as well as in almost all the states,” the report said, which surveyed 200,111 households across 36 states and UTs (spread across 5,808 primary sampling units and 186 districts) and interviewed 473,569 individuals.

In north-eastern states, higher preference for home-made rice beer was reported among current alcohol users, while the highest proportion of drinking illicit distilled liquor (kacchi sharab) was reported from Bihar (30 percent), the survey findings note.

The demand for Indian-made alcoholic beverages like beer made from malt, wines, brandy, whiskies, rum, gin etc. has increased in the global market.

The country exported alcoholic products to the world worth $322 million during the year 2020-21, with major export destinations being the United Arab Emirates, Ghana, Singapore, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon.

India is said to be the third largest market--after China and Russia--for alcoholic beverages in the world, with an estimated value worth $35 billion.

The spirit segment in India--which includes whiskey, brandy, rum and vodka--is estimated to grow by 25 percent to Rs 2.92 lakh crore ($41 billion) by 2022, according to Euromonitor International.