Latvia: Sales of imported beer up by 1/3

Sales of imported beer increased by 29 pct in 1Q of 2006 while sales of Latvian beer are reducing, Dienas Bizness communicated July 12.

At the same time local breweries have increased their exports for 24 pct.

According to the data from the State Revenue office, in 1Q of 2006 the consumption of beer in Latvia has increased by 2.79 pct, but sales of local brews decreased by 0.6 pct.

“Actually, only strength of Latvian made beer has increased on average from 5.5 pct last year to 5.6 pct this year,” Revenue Service report states.

At present imported beer takes 15 pct of the Latvian beer market, but growth of volumes of imported beer, has started to reduce gradually. In 2005 the volume of imported beer had increased by 84 pct in comparison with year 2004.

Latvian producers had quite successful 1Q due to the growing volumes of exported beer. In 1Q of 2006 the beer exports have increased by 23.8 pct if compared with the same period last year.

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