In the past eight years, the sales of vodka and beverages in Russia have decreased twofold, from 157.8 mio decaliters in 2010 to 83.3 mio decaliters in 2018.
According to a research by the FinExpertiza audit and consulting group, the sales of champagne saw a slightly less reduce of 38%. Overall retail sales of alcoholic beverages decreased by 25%, the figures traditionally leaving out the consumption of low-alcohol drinks and beer. Wine sales went down by 7%, while sales of cognac slightly grew by 3.5%. The research revealed that the largest reduce in alcohol sales in volume terms has been observed in Tyumen, where they dropped fourfold. The regions that consume the least amount of alcohol also include the Rostov and Sverdlovsk regions.
Amidst reducing sales in 80 of Russia’s 83 regions, three regions have shown increased alcohol consumption. Those include Moscow, Ingushetia and Chechnya, the latter two seeing an eightfold and 12-fold growth, respectively. This is due to increasing tourist traffic to North Caucasus regions and low base effect, experts say.