E-Malt.com News article: Russia: Vodka loses share to beer in overall alcohol sales in January

If anything is emblematic of Russian cuisine, it’s vodka—sipped along with a meal or gulped down in a shot (or several). But the country’s iconic booze is losing ground to beer, according to government data released this week (link in Russian).

Despite efforts to revive vodka sales and a beer industry crippled by the ruble’s fall, Russians are buying less of the spirit compared to last year, while sales of wine and beer have risen.

According to Rosstat data, vodka’s share in overall acohol sales to the population in January 2015 dropped to 41.5% from 44.4% in January 2014, whereas beer’s share over the reporting period grew to 40% from 37.7% a year ago.

Overall, alcohol prices have been increasing in the country, with the government trying to curb excessive drinking through taxes and regulation. (Indeed, alcoholism is a plague in Russia: One in four men die before they are 55, and according to an extensive study, in large part because of “excess vodka use.”)

Russian alcohol preferences have been swinging back and forth during the country’s recent economic turbulence. Vodka consumption has been on the decline, but the Kremlin is working to change that. Beer consumption, which has been on the rise for years, dropped in the first half of 2014, the Moscow Times reported, with people returning to vodka. But the numbers released on March 3, comparing this January’s sales with last year’s, show that vodka hasn’t yet turned the corner.

Russia’s favorite spirit may still bounce back. The government cut the state-regulated minimum price of vodka in February for the first time since 2009. President Vladimir Putin has said that he is concerned about the spirit’s high prices stimulating the production of bootleg alcohol.


06 March, 2015