Japan urges young people to drink more alcohol
18 August 2022, 09:16
Young people in Japan are being urged to drink more alcohol after a fall in tax revenue from booze.
The Japanese government has launched a nationwide competition, for ideas to encourage people to drink more alcohol.
The younger generation are typically consuming far less booze than their parents, causing a major fall in tax revenue and the country’s tax officials have launched a campaign called Sake Viva! Asking people between the ages of 20 to 39 to come up with new products and designs to get people drinking more.
Now officials want to improve demand for alcohol by asking for ways to make drinking more attractive.
"The domestic alcoholic beverage market is shrinking due to demographic changes such as the declining birth rate and ageing population, and lifestyle changes due to the impact of the new coronavirus infection," the tax authority's campaign website says.
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"In this project, by asking young people to propose their own business plans, we will appeal to young people for the development and promotion of Japanese alcoholic beverages, and at the same time, we will revitalise the industry."
According to figures released by Japan's tax agency, the country's average per adult annual intake of alcohol has dropped from 100 litres per year in 1995 to 75 litres in 2020.
The World Health Organisation put Japan’s annual per capita drinking rate — expressed in terms of pure alcohol — at eight litres a year in 2018, less than the UK’s 11.4.
