That’s according to a study by University at Buffalo researchers. While wine and spirits sales soared 20% to 40%, sales of beer declined in the early months of the pandemic compared to like periods in prior years. The research also found what everyone would expect during a pandemic: People’s visits to bars and pubs declined but visits to liquor stores increased.
Dynamics varied significantly across states. While beer sales decreased in most states between March and June 2020 compared with the same months in recent years, they increased in Kansas, Arkansas and Texas. Meanwhile, Texas, Kentucky and Virginia showed sustained increases in their sales of both spirits and wine, which the authors suggest “can be alarming signals for problematic alcohol use.”
“If data can provide information about geographic areas in which alcohol use increases during certain types of events such as during severe weather, high unemployment, or events such as the COVID pandemic, this information can be useful to help prepare law enforcement, medical professionals and substance use disorder treatment providers to address alcohol-related issues associated with such times,” Quigley says.
Machine-learning assessments in the study point to a significant shift in the relationship between alcohol sales data and visits to various alcohol outlets. More research will be necessary to understand how people’s behaviors changed, but these findings suggest the possibility that some states may have seen an increase in online alcohol purchases or panic buying of spirits and wine.
The research team notes that the study has some limitations. For example, many states were not included in the NIAAA dataset, and the human mobility data was not able to capture alcohol sales at places such as grocery stores, where sales of alcohol are mixed with sales of other items. Nevertheless, these results provide insights into the potential effects of lockdown policies on alcohol use and could inform future public health policies to address alcohol-related social issues, the researchers say.