Alcohol consumption frequency in Russia 2009-2020

The share of Russians not consuming alcohol at all was measured at its highest in 2018 and dropped slightly by 2020. Among the alcohol consuming population, only six percent reported drinking it several times per week.

Which is the most consumed alcoholic drink in Russia?

   Despite the fact that Russians are internationally acknowledged for their predilection for vodka, statistical data reveals that it is not the most consumed alcoholic beverage in the country. As it turns out, Russians drink sizably more amount of beer than vodka. Despite a continuous drop in beer consumption levels, the retail sales of that alcoholic beverage in 2019 amounted to roughly 4.7 trillion liters countrywide, while the sales volume of vodka was measured at about 640 million liters over the same period. Similar to the retail sales, the per capita consumption of beer in Russia saw a steady decline over the past years. Namely, in 2018, on average 3.35 liters pure alcohol equivalent of beer was consumed per person per year.

Alcohol consumption worldwide

   On the global scale, consumption levels of both beer, vodka, as well as wine, have been in decline. An increased demand, on the other hand, was reported for stronger alcoholic beverages, such as gin and whiskey. When looking at the ranking of most alcohol consuming nations, the former British colony, the archipelagic country situated in the Indian Ocean – Seychelles was leading worldwide. In Europe, Czechia ranked as a leader with an annual 14.4 liters of pure alcohol consumption per capita as of 2018.