St. Patrick’s Day by the Numbers: Some Retailers See the Green

St. Patrick’s Day is definitely about the green and not just for the partiers who may go a little overboard on the 4th most popular drinking day in the U.S. (New Years Eve, Christmas and the 4th of July rank ahead.)

Because of the high volume of alcohol sales, expected to be about $4.6 billion, February 17th is also about the green for many restaurants, bars, liquor distributors. Uncle Sam and his state and local cousins also rake in plenty of their share of the green via “sin taxes.”

On St. Patrick’s Day, about 13 million pints of Guinness, the most recognized Irish beer, is expected to be consumed. Overall, worldwide consumption of all brands of beer usually tops 4.2 billion pints on the holiday.