Eastern Europe

In 2022, alcoholic drinks achieved moderate volume growth amidst growing inflationary pressure, rising unit prices and lower personal disposable incomes. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine further exacerbated the precarious economic…

In 2022, Alcoholic drinks in Bulgaria were mainly influenced by a 16.9% inflation rate, the Ukraine war, supply problems, high transport costs and delivery delays. All this led to a considerable rise in unit prices and stock problems among…

2022 was a tough year for alcoholic drinks in Croatia as high inflation impacted discretionary spending in the year. Fortunately, this was offset by strong growth in the on-trade channel as tourism was almost at its pre-pandemic level. Rising prices…

Beer witnessed a trend for more premium, perceived healthier and more expensive products like ale, which also benefited from the return to the on-trade channel as Coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions were lifted. The prices of beer and other types of…

While off-trade volume sales remained higher, the on-trade channel was the major driver of total volume sales growth in beer and spirits in 2022. Growth rates were closer in on- and off-trade volume terms in wine. The stronger overall growth…

While alcoholic drinks in Hungary recorded substantially improved growth in total current value sales in 2022, this was primarily due to soaring inflation fuelled by the global recovery from COVID-19, the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and…

The Latvian economy began to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, but witnessed further instability from the geopolitical problems caused by the war in Ukraine. Nevertheless, alcoholic drinks reaped the benefits of the eased pandemic…

Alcoholic drinks saw steady growth in total volume terms in 2022. After the turmoil seen during the pandemic, sales began to stabilise in 2022 as COVID-19 fears subsided and restrictions were eased and consumers began to return to their old…

While unit prices of most other consumer goods saw double-digit percentage growth rates, in line with inflation, the unit prices of alcoholic drinks saw more moderate growth since many of the major brands are of domestic origin and were able to limit…

Alcoholic drinks in Poland recorded a slight downtick in terms of total volume sales during 2022. Despite the considerable surge in on-trade sales, buoyed by the unrestricted operational ability of foodservice establishments post-pandemic, this…

Despite the economic and geopolitical uncertainty of 2022, alcoholic drinks in Romania enjoyed some significantly positive developments in some of its categories. This was in large part due to the successful eradication of COVID-19 restrictions as of…

As COVID-19 fears subsided in 2022 there was a strong desire among many Serbian consumers to start socialising again with this helping to stimulate on-trade volume growth with sales fully recovering after the significant decline seen during 2020.…

Alcoholic drinks, as a product area, in Slovakia experienced the impact of weakened purchasing power among Slovak consumers in 2022. However, the price growth in the industry was relatively slower compared to other sectors. This can be attributed to…

Alcoholic drinks has recovered to pre-pandemic sales levels in volume and value terms, with consumption rising following the abolishment of social and travel restrictions. Horeca establishments were open without any limitations in 2022 enabling…

Overall, the consumption of alcoholic drinks in the Czech Republic continued declining in total volume terms in 2022, with signs of this trend developing even before the pandemic, especially through the on-trade. The lifting of COVID-19 restrictions…

Despite price hikes, beer continued to witness volume growth in 2022 supported by the recovery of the on-trade. Significant unit price increases were visible across all product categories as rampant inflation pushed up costs and producers were forced…

In 2022, beer in Bulgaria saw a slight increase in retail volume terms thanks to the preference for lower-alcoholic drinks and awareness of the health benefits of beer. However, although on-trade beer volume sales continued recovering post-pandemic,…

Beer sales have been revived with the recovery of tourism in Croatia. Following two years of pandemic-related restrictions, there were no border restrictions or on-trade measures imposed in 2022. However, while on-trade sales, which are largely…

On-trade sales of beer collapsed in 2020 as Coronavirus (COVID-19) led to the closure of bars, pubs and restaurants. While off-trade sales continued increasing, picking up some of the lost on-trade sales, the size of the on-trade decline as well as…

As in 2021, ale posted the fastest total volume and value growth in 2022. This performance was connected with the trend for more premium, and expensive, beer, which is perceived to have a richer taste. Moreover, on-trade sales popularised ale more…