Alcohol, Estonia, Markets and Companies, Society

When subtracting tourists' alcohol purchases and consumption, and adding 0.5 liters of illegal alcohol per resident, Estonian residents consumed 8.7 liters of absolute alcohol per resident and 10.3 liters per adult resident in 2015.

"It is very positive that for the fourth year in a row alcohol consumption in Estonia has declined, but we are still far from reaching the maximum rate advised by the World Health Organization (WHO) of 6 liters of absolute alcohol per adult resident," the institute said.

According to the institute, the reasons behind alcohol consumption declining are a change in the attitudes in the society, healthier lifestyle of some residents, a decrease in the frequency of consuming alcohol, and a decline in the average alcohol content of sold products.

The share of alcohol purchased by tourists declined in 2015, but it still remains high at 41% of all alcohol sold in Estonia.

The output of all alcoholic beverages declined in Estonia last year; export sales decreased by more than a fourth to 149.3 million euros and alcohol imports fell 19% to 227.6 million euros, it appears from the annual alcohol market survey by the Institute of Economic Research.

Strong alcohol sales totaled 18.3 million liters, 7.4% less than a year earlier. Beer sales amounted to 126 million liters, which marks a year-on-year decrease of 3.4%. Sales of weak alcoholic beverages, at 39.2 million liters, were down by 8.4%, while sales of grape wines and vermouth remained at the previous year's level, totaling 19.8 million liters.

While the prices of goods and services declined slightly in Estonia last year, alcoholic beverages became 6.1% more expensive mainly owing to a rise in excise duties. An increase was recorded in retail prices of all alcoholic beverages, but the rise was steeper in the prices of strong alcoholic beverages.

A decline occurred in 2015 in the production volumes of all alcoholic beverages except for fruit and berry wines. The output of strong alcoholic beverages was 15.4 million liters, which represents a year-on-year drop of 22%. The production of vodka fell by more than a fourth or 26%.

The amount of beer produced last year was 139.8 million liters, almost 13% less than the year before. The output of weak alcoholic beverages totaled 29.1 million liters, 2.6% less than a year earlier, while the output of fruit and berry wines, at 9.8 million liters, was 2.4% bigger than in 2014.

Export sales of alcoholic beverages decreased by more than a fourth to 149.3 million euros. Exports of beer and strong alcoholic beverages fell the most, by 39% and 28%, respectively. During the year 42.9 million liters of beer, 17 million liters of weak alcoholic beverages and 7.3 million liters of strong alcoholic beverages was sold on external markets.

Imports of alcoholic beverages totaled 227.6 million euros, down by 19% against the previous year.