Finland: A drop in beer sales was registered in Finland in 2003, according to figures released recently. Finland’s Union of Brewing and Soft Drinks Companies announced that sales of Finnish beer dropped by 2.4% to 403.7 million litres. Sales of beer through Finland’s state-owned alcohol retailing monopoly Alko fell by 9.4% and beer sales in restaurants and bars fell by 4.8%.

The drop in sales of beer and other alcoholic drinks has been blamed mainly on the rise in quantities of alcohol which Finns import privately from other countries, especially Estonia. When Estonia joins the EU in May, such imports are expected to increase even further.

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