Brewery product sales in Finland were down by 4.6 percent during July to September compared to the same period last year, according to figures from the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry lobby group.
During the third quarter, beverage companies sold 10.4 million litres less beer than in Q3 2022.
The federation based the figures on sales data from its members: Hartwall, MBH Breweries, Momentin Group, Olvi, Red Bull and Sinebrychoff.
Year-on-year, Q3 sales of all alcoholic libations sold by its members fell by 2.4 percent, while sales of alcohol-free drinks were also down, by 6.8 percent. A total of 213.7 million litres of beer, cider, alcopops, mineral water and soft drinks were sold during that period.
The federation said that beer sales have been in decline for years, noting that Finland has the highest beer tax in the EU — and will continue to, even if taxes are somewhat reduced at the beginning of next year.
The lobby has urged Finnish policymakers to reduce alcohol taxes for some time now, claiming that the higher tax has led consumers to buy their drinks for less from abroad.
As an example, it noted that the price of a crate of beer with 5.2 percent alcohol content can be around 22 euros more in Finland than in Estonia.
The group noted that traditionally, Finland has taxed beer more heavily than wine, even though there are a number of Finnish breweries that create job opportunities from farms to bottling facilities. It said Finland's taxation of a domestic product differs from wine producing countries, which often set low or no excise duties on wine.
"Finland's alcohol taxes are on the whole at such a high level, that in order to curb passenger imports of alcoholic beverages, no alcohol taxes should be raised," the federation's CEO Tuula Loikkanen said in a release issued on Tuesday.
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