Sales volume of beer in Vinmonopolet stores in Norway 2019, by wholesaler

Among the beer wholesalers, the sales volume of Kinn Bryggeri in Vinmonopolet stores was highest, reaching 279 thousand liters of beer in 2019. Cask as well as Multibev ranked second with each 278 thousand liters being sold in these retail stores. The government-owned retailer Vinmonopolet is the only company that is allowed to sell beverages containing an alcohol content higher than 4.75 percent in Norway. Overall, there are strong restrictions on the sales of alcoholic beverages in the Nordic countries except for Denmark.   

 Per capita beer consumption

In recent years, the consumption of alcoholic beverages in general decreased in Norway but  the volume of beer consumed in the country remained stable from 2008 to 2018. By the end of this period, the amount of beer consumed per capita amounted to 51 liters. Most popular was retail beer (alcohol content of 3.7 to 4.7 percent). In 2019, the consumed volume reached a total of approximately 233 million liters.     

Per capita beer consumption in Europe

Compared to other countries from Europe, Norway’s per capita beer consumption was relatively low. As of 2018, it was highest in the Czech Republic with a volume of 141 liters consumed per person. In second and third position came Austria and Germany with a per capita consumption of 107 and 102 liters of beer.