Romania: 1 billion euros for cigarettes and beer

Romanians spent over one billion euros on cigarettes and beer in the first eight months of this year, six times more than on cold cuts and yoghurt together. During the same period consumers spent almost 500 million euros on coffee, soft drinks and mineral water, according to Ziarul Financiar news of November 10th.

According to a survey by market research company AC Nielsen, sales of cigarettes, beer and soft drinks took the top three positions in the consumer goods ranking for the first eight months of this year.

"Cigarettes continue to come first in the ranking of packed consumer goods, given that Romanians have a high incidence for smoking, but also due to the systematic price increases, with a view to rallying prices to the European market," said Emanuel Sanda, country manager of AC Nielsen.

According to data from leading cigarette manufacturers on the local market, sales figures exceeded 35-36 billion cigarettes in 2005, an average of 360 packs of cigarettes per year, per capita. Even though many food product categories are missing, beverages have a significant presence in the top ten, with a cumulated value (spirits, soft drinks, beer, mineral water) of over 730 million euros in the first nine months of this year.