Alcohol will in “no way” protect against Covid-19, notes the World Health Organization. That looks an apt reminder, judging by last year’s global surge in booze consumption.
Retail sales of alcoholic drinks in the US and UK rose more than a tenth last year. In China, they jumped 23 per cent, the biggest increase in any major market. Two-thirds of total sales came from baijiu, a Chinese white liquor with an alcohol content of about 50 per cent.
Kweichow Moutai, maker of the popular high-end version of the spirit, has been one of the largest beneficiaries of rising demand. Income surged 14 per cent last year, on hefty operating margins of almost two-thirds. The recovery in local consumption and reopening nightlife venues is expected to keep up demand.