Alcoholic Drinks

Beer in Belgium, navigating challenges arising from still relatively high inflation and strong pressure on consumer disposable incomes, saw a decline in both off- and on-trade volume sales in 2023. Despite these economic headwinds, the category…

While total beer volumes were moderately down in Denmark in 2023, value increased. This development had to do with price increases and the fact that Danes are keen to buy good quality beer rather than bulk in volume. The consumption of domestic…

Beer in Finland experienced a decline in total volume sales in 2023. While on-trade volumes remained buoyant, off-trade sales suffered from the revival of personal imports from the neighbouring countries of Estonia and Lativia, where unit prices are…

Beer saw total volume sales fall in Italy in 2023. The growth dynamics of the pandemic changed for beer over the 2022-2023 period. Following consecutive years of off-trade growth (2020 and 2021), demand for beer in the off-trade declined in 2022.…

Total volume sales of beer in Switzerland decreased moderately in 2023 as a result of health and wellness trends and the general economic situation in the country. Consumers opted more frequently for non/low alcohol drinks, including non-alcoholic…

In line with other alcoholic drinks categories, cider/perry in Belgium saw a decline in total volume sales in 2023. The burgeoning health trend and a lack of investment in the category by players and retailers were the main reasons for the downward…

Cider/perry sales experienced a decline in 2023 in Denmark, reflecting shifting consumer preferences and product innovation trends. While manufacturers primarily focused on spirit-based RTDs, the launch of flavoured lager by Carlsberg in 2023…

Cider/perry sales in Finland registered a significant decline in volume terms in 2023, in the face of growing maturity and intense competition from other alcoholic drinks, such as beer, wine and RTDs. The beverage has traditionally been promoted as a…

Cider/perry saw significant volume growth in Italy in 2023. Indeed, cider/perry was the only alcoholic drinks category to see a positive performance in volume terms in the Italian market in the final year of the review period. The small size of the…

Cider/perry in Switzerland continued to perform positively in off- and on-trade volume and value growth terms in 2023. In line with the general trend towards lower consumption of alcoholic drinks, but with a focus on higher-quality and premium…

RTDs in Belgium stood out in alcoholic drinks in 2023 despite seeing a decrease, albeit modest, in total volume sales. Amid the challenges faced by alcoholic drinks in general, RTDs had a strong and growing non-alcoholic category, which helped to…

Throughout the review period, spirit-based RTDs demonstrated robust growth in Denmark, fuelled by the introduction of new products and an evolving market landscape. Notably, popular brands like Smirnoff Ice, Breezer, and Shaker, alongside emerging…

RTDs represented the best-performing category within the Finnish alcoholic drinks market in 2023, supported by ongoing new product development, as players competed to offer consumers unique offerings. With the economic situation making Finns more…

RTDs saw volume sales stagnate in Italy in 2023. Two main factors constrained the performance of RTDs in both the on-trade and off-trade channels during the final year of the review period. Significant price rises deterred consumers from purchasing…

Total volume sales of RTDs in Switzerland recorded strong growth in 2023, albeit slower than the double-digit increases of 2021 and 2022 as demand stabilised in the post-Coronavirus (COVID-19) period. Growth was largely driven by consumers’ attempts…

In 2023, spirits in Belgium saw a strong decrease in total volume sales, faster than the downturn witnessed in 2022. The downward trajectory of spirits was informed by the dual, related impact of still relatively high inflation and strong pressure on…

Overall, spirits sales declined moderately in Denmark in 2023. There were substantial differences among the various spirits categories. Products such as akvavit, brandy, and cognac experienced the most significant volume reductions, while…

Volume sales of spirits in Finland continued to fall in 2023, alongside a drop in per-capita consumption. Demand was negatively impacted by the rising prominence of the sober curious trend, which promotes a more mindful and moderate approach to…

Spirits saw volume sales decline in Italy in 2023. Strong price rises and pressure on purchasing power had dire effects on demand for spirits through both on-trade and off-trade channels during the year. Indeed, consumers became more and more…

Spirits in Switzerland saw further double-digit on-trade volume growth in 2023, while off-trade volume sales returned to growth after a moderate slowdown in 2022. As a result, total volume sales witnessed a strong increase in 2023, following only a…

Overall, wine in Belgium saw a faster decline in total volume sales in 2023, compared with 2022. The performance towards the end of the review period was impacted strongly by shifting consumer preferences within the dominant still light grape wine…

Total volume sales of wine were stagnant in Denmark in 2023. The largest area, red wine, continued declining, while white, rosé, and sparkling wine performed better. Non-grape wine was another declining area as there were no new products, and it…

Wine in Finland saw declining sales in total volume terms in 2023. This was attributable entirely to a decrease in off-trade consumption, following the revival of personal imports from the neighbouring countries of Estonia and Lativia, where unit…

Wine saw volume sales fall in Italy in 2023. While wine had seen on-trade growth in the previous year as consumers eagerly returned to socialising outside the home once COVID-19 related restrictions were lifted, the category experienced decline in…

Wine in Switzerland registered positive but modest total volume growth in 2023. Moreover, growth was derived mainly through the ongoing recovery of on-trade volume sales from the slump caused by foodservice restrictions in the wake of the Coronavirus…

Overall, alcoholic drinks in Greece saw flat total volume sales in 2023, despite the impact of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis upon disposable incomes and purchasing power. Off-trade volume sales fell in a number of categories, influenced by…

Volume sales in alcoholic drinks in Ireland declined in 2023, in both on-trade and off-trade terms, while value sales are being better supported by hikes in unit prices. This is attributed a pattern of normalisation after the atypical spikes and…

Alcoholic drinks in Portugal witnessed positive growth in 2023, albeit at a much slower pace than the dynamic growth seen in the year prior. The positive performance came mainly from the on trade, supported by another record year of tourism for the…

Alcoholic drinks in the Netherlands suffered a decline in total volume sales in 2023. At the same time, current value sales in both on-trade and off-trade terms registered robust growth as average unit prices for alcoholic drinks categories increased…

Beer in Greece posted a slight decrease in total volume sales in 2023, despite the market size still not having fully recovered to the 2019 pre-Coronavirus (COVID-19) level. However, this was mostly due to the decrease in total volume sales of the…

Beer slumped into negative volume figures in Ireland in 2023, following the strong growth seen in 2022. This is attributed to the normalisation period following the atypical spikes and crashes in sales cause by the pandemic lockdowns followed by the…

In 2023, beer witnessed a slowdown in volume sales following the very strong year in 2022. Current value growth continued to outperform volumes due to high inflation and the expansion of international beers, both in the on trade and off trade. Higher…

The total sales volume of beer recorded a decline in 2023. Further substantial price increases in both the on-trade and off-trade channels, together with mostly disappointing summer weather, negatively affected the category. Almost all categories in…

As the appeal of cider/perry in Greece remained limited among the domestic population, the category’s performance was fairly flat in 2023, with only a marginal drop in total volume sales. Retail volume sales dropped moderately while on-trade volume…

Cider/perry slumped into a marginally negative volume performance in Ireland in 2023, following robust volume sales seen in 2022. However, cider remains fairly resilient through on-trade channels. Therefore, this fall is attributed to the…

Cider/perry remains among the most dynamic categories in Portugal, as it successfully combines flavour, freshness, lower ABV perception and a healthier image. The growing popularity of cider/perry is extending to a wider range of age segments.…

Cider is a minor category in the Netherlands, and in 2023, it saw substantial decline in both volume and current value terms. The decline in current value was limited because of a strong increase in average unit price in 2023. Still, the underlying…

RTDs in Greece is one of the most dynamic categories in terms of investment, attracting strong interest from manufacturers and also retailers. Product variety has been increasing year-on-year. The most prominent developments in 2023 were Tails…

Despite the rise of RTDs as a competitive category in alcoholic drinks, volume sales in RTDs in Ireland slumped in 2023. This is attributed to the normalisation effect following the atypical spikes and crashes seen in sales through the pandemic era…

RTDs in Portugal witnessed a slowdown in volume sales over 2023, following a very strong increase in the on-trade over 2022 when several new launches boosted sales of spirit-based RTD’s, which remains the most dynamic segment. Wine based RTDs is by…

While many alcoholic drinks categories struggled to achieve total volume growth in 2023, RTDs still recorded an increase in both total volume and current value terms. The increase in total volume was only modest, but with extreme increases in average…

Spirits in Greece posted a further, if slower, increase in total volume sales in 2023, notwithstanding the cost-of-living crisis taking its toll on discretionary spending. The increase derived from ongoing strong growth in on-trade consumption as…

Spirits achieved marginal volume growth in Ireland in 2023. While off-trade sales saw a sub-decimal volume decline, this was balanced by small positive growth in on-trade sales. This is supported by mixology trends, alongside the fact that cocktails…

After a very strong 2022, the expectations from spirits producers, distributors and retailers in Portugal were very high for 2023. However, sales slowed considerably as Portuguese consumers were confronted by the rising cost of living, high interest…

In terms of total volume sales, the spirits category was more or less static in 2023. As with other alcoholic drinks categories, current value growth was much higher as there was a substantial increase in average unit prices. Throughout the…

The reopening of the market, as the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis ebbed, boosted wine in Greece in the on-trade channel. However, strong pressure on disposable incomes, as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, meant Greek consumers went out less,…

Wine sales continued to decline in 2023, following an ongoing trend. One key factor for this is the high prices attributed to wine, notably so for sparkling wine and champagne, with these subcategories typically being expensive, and also affecting…

Wine continues to perform well in current value terms, with volume sales stagnating in Portugal. Rising prices were evident in the on- and off trade, namely in sparkling wines, still light grape wine, and port wine. Inflationary pressures contributed…

Overall volume sales in wine continued to decline in the Netherlands in 2023. Both off-trade and on-trade sales were hampered by an ageing consumer base and substantial growth in average unit prices across the subcategories. The long-term issues…

In 2023, the performance of alcoholic drinks in Norway was negatively affected by the fuller resumption of cross-border trade and international travel and economic pressures resulting from high inflation, a weakened Norwegian currency, high…