Demand for Wine and Alcoholic Beverages in the European Union: A Monolithic Market?

The European Union (EU) is a major producer, importer, and consumer of wine, as well as other alcoholic beverages. Although it is possible to characterize demand for the EU as a whole, there is variation across the 27 countries that make up the EU. This research uses a simple standard model of demand and some descriptive statistics to characterize demand for alcoholic beverages and to identify four separate subgroups within the EU with different characteristics of wine and beer demand. Changing tastes over time turn out to be important in determining demand. (JEL Classifications: D12, F1, F15