View source for Cider Consumption in Asturias: By the Numbers

[[File:Bottles-2451599-1024x683.jpg|alt=A detail of the cider tree sculpture in Gijón.|450x450px|thumb|Hernández, Bernat & Labaula Arquitectos, ''Módulo Sícera'', 2013, Gijón, Spain (more commonly known as ''Árbol de la sidra'' or ''El Árbolon''.)]]
Asturians drinks a lot of cider. That is a mostly uncontroversial statement. Everywhere I look people are drinking cider. It is impossible to imagine any gathering anywhere in [[Asturias]] that didn’t involve drinking cider. But how much is it really? What are the cider consumption numbers for Asturias,  and how do they stack up? Is this place as truly cider mad as I think it is?

==World Cider Rankings==
According to the National Association of Cider Makers’ Paul Mitchell, Spain ranks sixth in the world in millions of liters of cider consumed per year.<ref group="Citations">Mitchell, P. 2006. Out of the orchard, into the glass: An appreciation of cider and perry. National Assoc. Cider Makers, London.</ref>

As you can see below, Spain is one of the Big Six cider drinking countries.<ref group="Citations">Merwin, Ian A., et al. “Cider Apples and Cider-Making Techniques in Europe and North America.” ''Horticultural Reviews'', John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2007, pp. 365–415. ''Wiley Online Library'', https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470380147<nowiki/>.ch6.</ref>
[[File:1-Cider-production-consumption-and-trends-by-country-and-region-Total-estimated-sales.png|alt=cider production table|center|frame|Cider production/consumption and trends by country and region. Total estimated sales value worldwide in 2005 were more than US$ 3 billion.]]
That information can be used to plot a consumption per capita number for each of those countries:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+National Consumption of Cider
Source: Merwin et. al 2007, Statista, 2022
|'''Country'''
|'''Pop (millions)'''
|'''Cider Consumption (million L)'''
|'''Liters per capita'''
|-
|UK 
| 67
|510 
|7.6
|-
|South Africa
|59
|170 
|2.9
|-
|France
| 65
|125 
|1.9
|-
|Ireland
|5
|80
|16.0
|-
|Spain 
|47
| 70
| 1.5
|}
A more interesting picture emerges here. While the UK is still awash in cider, it becomes the Irish who are most cider mad when you look at liters per capita. Double the consumption of cider in Ireland versus in the UK.

==Asturian Cider Consumption==
But what is really interesting is that Asturias consumes '''vastly''' more cider than the rest of Spain combined. The current best estimates are that 77% of all cider consumed in Spain is drunk in Asturias.<ref group="Notes">According to [https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/autor?codigo=984156 Ignaciu Hevia Llavona], and quoted by the president of the Comarca de la Sidra, [https://www.whetstonemagazine.com/journal/in-asturias-cider-is-not-just-a-beverage-in-a-bottle Guillermo Guisasola].</ref> That means, if you were to give Asturias its own entry, based on 77% of Spains consumption, the European cider drinking picture becomes very different:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Asturias ranked as if it were a country. 77% of the Spanish consumption
|'''Region'''
|'''Pop (millions)'''
|'''Cider Consumption (million L)'''
|'''Liters per capita'''
|-
|Asturias
|1
|54
|54.0
|}
Asturians consume more than three times the cider per person than the Irish. That is a serious difference! More importantly, it lines up with what I see on the street in Asturias. Even coming from the most cider-loving parts of Europe, people are often amazed at just how cider crazy Asturias is. And it is absolutely no stretch of the imagination to see Asturias consuming 12 gallons of cider a year. As I have explained elsewhere, Asturian culture is [[:Category:Cider Culture|cider culture]].

==Notes==
<references group="Notes" />
==Citations==
<references group="Citations" />
[[Category:Cider Culture]]