Vodka sales decreased by 4% in the first half of 2021

This is reported by RBC, citing data from the NRA rating agency. According to another research company - GfK, which tracks purchases of about 20 thousand Russian households, vodka in the Russian Federation began to be bought even less often: by 8% compared to January-June 2019.

Azbuka Vkusa notes an even greater drop in demand - by 11% compared to the same period in 2020. At the same time, the retailer calculated that by the first half of 2019, the drop in demand was only 1.6%. According to GfK, 32% of families in Russia bought vodka at least once in 2021. This figure in 2019 was 35%. Average consumption per household is estimated at 6.5 liters per year.

The NRA explains the decrease in demand by measures of state regulation. Such as an increase in excise rates, restrictions on trade and advertising. In addition, it affects the statistics and growth of adherents of a healthy lifestyle. In 2020, the growth in demand for vodka was supported by the coronavirus pandemic, analysts say. The growth in prices for vodka last year amounted to 1.8%, and in general for alcohol - 2.8%.

By the way, in January 2021, Russians purchased 17 million 400 thousand decaliters of alcoholic beverages. This is 800 thousand more than in the same period of 2019 and 2020. Moreover, the most popular among Russians in January was vodka (5 million 848 thousand decaliters).