American Wine Consumption Drops for First Time in 25 Years A new report from industry group br IWSR highlighted the decline. Beer sales have been falling br for the past four years, with br a 2.3 percent drop last year. The decrease comes as more people br consume spirits and ready-to-drink br beverages, such as spiked seltzers. Sales in the hard seltzer industry br increased by 50 percent last year.br The industry is now worth $8 billion. Broader trends of health consciousness br seem to be driving consumers towards br lower calorie drinks, such as spiked seltzers.