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Sales of alcohol declined for the fourth straight year in 2024-25, according to a Statistics Canada report released Wednesday. From April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025, sales dropped by three per cent to 2,898 million litres on a volume basis, marking the fourth consecutive year volume sales have declined.This was also reported as “the largest annual decrease since Statistics Canada began tracking this series in 2004/2005.”Liquor authorities and other retail outlets “sold $25.8 billion worth of alcoholic beverages in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, down 1.6 per cent from fiscal year 2023/2024.”This decrease happened despite a 1.6 per cent increase “in the price of alcoholic beverages in stores from March 2024 to March 2025.” Value of beer sales drops The overall dollar value of beer sales by liquor stores, agencies and other retail outlets dropped 1.6 per cent to $9.1 billion in the 2024-25 fiscal year. Story continues below advertisement By volume, beer sales declined 3.8 per cent to 1,876 million litres in 2024-25, the ninth consecutive annual drop in beer sales by volume.However, beer held its position as the top-selling beverage category in 2024-25; its market share went unchanged from a year earlier at just over one-third (35.1 per cent) of total sales. 0:51 Ready-to-drink beverages expand to grocery stores as LCBO strike continues Following the tariffs imposed by the U.S. on aluminum and steel, Canadian breweries have noted a struggle with producing beer cans in Canada, as the country switched gears from U.S.-reliant supply chains and as consumers double down on the “Buy Canadian” sentiment. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. In addition, American alcohol was removed from the shelves of many provincial liquor stores in response to the first round of tariffs levied by U.S. President Donald Trump on March 4, 2025. Story continues below advertisement Ontario imported roughly $965 million worth of booze from America before the ban.As a result, roughly $2 million worth of U.S. products have either expired or will expire in the next few months. Most of those products, according to the government, are beer, ready-to-drink beverages and wine. Sales of imported wine decline for the first time Wine sales fell 2.2 per cent to $7.7 billion in 2024-25, which was driven by a decline in imported wine sales (-3.9 per cent). Imported wine accounted for 70 per cent of total wine sales.The report noted that “this was the first time imported wine sales have decreased since Statistics Canada began tracking alcohol sales by origin in 1992/1993.”Domestic wine sales were found to be stable, increasing 1.9 per cent to $2.3 billion. Story continues below advertisement This was the fourth consecutive year of decline for wine sales by volume, equalling 460 million litres.Ontario (-5.3 per cent) and Quebec (-4.3 per cent) saw the largest declines in imported wine sales in 2024-25. Spirits sales also took a dive Total sales of spirits dropped 3.2 per cent to $6.7 billion in 2024-25. Whisky (29.6 per cent), vodka (22.9 per cent) and liqueurs (15.4 per cent) were the top-selling spirits by share of total sales.Overall, sales of spirits by volume decreased by 4.4 per cent to 177 million litres in 2024-25. Trending Now The Bank of Canada says these are the 3 warning signs for mortgage default United Airlines can kick you off a flight if you don’t wear headphones View image in full screen Ontario Premier Doug Ford empties a Crown Royal bottle of whisky at a press conference in Kitchener, Ont., on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. Ford criticized the popular whisky’s parent company, Diageo, for their plan to close one of their Ontario bottling plants in the coming months. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan However, spirits were found to be the top seller in the Northwest Territories (44.1 per cent) and British Columbia (30.8 per cent). Story continues below advertisement Ciders and coolers lone beverage to see growth For the second straight year, ciders and coolers were the sole alcoholic beverage category with increased sales.Sales of ciders and coolers rose 4.8 per cent from the previous fiscal year to $2.4 billion in 2024-25, seeing increases in nine provinces and two territories but down in British Columbia (-2.0 per cent) and Yukon (-1.8 per cent).The volume of ciders and coolers sold also rose by 2.2 per cent to 385 million litres. Cannabis sales are growing Despite the sales of alcohol tanking across the country, cannabis sales are rising. Story continues below advertisement The report also evaluates the sales of cannabis in Canada, finding that recreational cannabis garnered $2.5 billion in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, up 11.5 per cent. 2:37 BIV: Legal cannabis sales continue to soar Sales of recreational cannabis by provincial cannabis authorities and other retail outlets also increased 6.1 per cent, rising $0.3 billion from the previous fiscal year to $5.5 billion in 2024-25.Yukon was found to have the highest sales per person with an average of $384, while Quebec had the lowest with $105.Quebec’s lower sales partly reflect restrictions in effect during the fiscal year, including a ban on cannabis vaping products and topicals, as well as limited edible offerings. More on Money More videos Gold often soars during crises. Not this time — so what’s going on? Trump says data centre deal with AI firms will keep electricity costs low As oil and gas prices rise amid Iran conflict, what comes next? 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