Tax increases punish the brewing industry – sales down by 3.9 per cent

A total of 368.8 million litres of brewery beverages were sold in January-June 2014. Domestic sales of beer, cider, long drinks, mineral waters and soft drinks decreased by 14.9 million litres, or 3.9 per cent. Sales declined in all beverage categories. These figures are based on sales statistics compiled by members of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry.

Members of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry sold a total of 188.2 million litres of beer in January-June 2014, a year-on-year decline of 2.9 per cent. Total sales of long drinks amounted to 18.7 million litres, down 2.4 per cent, and sales of ciders to 15.1 million litres, down 5.9 per cent. Soft drink sales amounted to 114.6 million litres, down 4.9 per cent, and mineral water sales to 32.3 million litres, down 5.5 per cent.

“The tax hikes introduced in the first part of the year resulted in lower sales. Higher taxes have cut into consumers’ purchasing power and have made it even more worthwhile for Finnish consumers to buy their beverages from Estonia. Furthermore, the cold weather in early summer kept sales down,” says Elina Ussa, Managing Director of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry.

Finland now has the EU’s highest excise taxes on beers, ciders, long drinks, mineral waters and soft drinks. In fact, Finland is the only EU country to levy an excise tax on mineral waters. Only six other EU countries have imposed an excise tax on soft drinks. More than half of EU countries do not tax cider at all. At the beginning of this year, Finland once again raised its taxes on soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. These taxes had last been increased in 2012. Another soft drinks tax hike has been proposed as from the beginning of 2015.

“The brewing industry has been hit by numerous tax increases in recent years. This has already become evident in the loss of jobs at breweries and the increase in booze cruises to Estonia. We should now be working to ensure the viability of the Finnish market and jobs, rather than burdening the domestic market with further tax increases,” says Ussa.

Higher taxes on alcoholic beverages have impacted on their real prices. The prices of beers and long drinks are now much higher than in 2003 – the year before Finland decreased its alcohol taxes – and the prices of ciders are almost on a par with 2003. On the other hand, the real prices of wines and other strong alcoholic beverages are lower than in 2003.

DOMESTIC SALES 1 Jan. 2014−30 Jun. 2014

Source: Member companies of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry: Captol Invest, Hartwall, Nokian Panimo, Olvi, Red Bull, Saimaan Juomatehdas and Sinebrychoff. The statistics do not include sales by actors outside the Federation nor private imports of brewery products, which are not statistically recorded. As of the beginning of 2011, the statistics include all the brands of the members of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry and any private label brands they produce.

Additional information:
Managing Director Elina Ussa, tel. +358 (0)45 269 7711
Communications Manager Outi Heikkinen, tel. +358 (0)50 370 8677

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