Beer, wine and spirits sales fell in volume terms in Norway in 2023 compared to the previous year, reaching the lowest figures since 2019.

Beverage alcohol sales stood at 392 million litres last year, down 2.4% on 2022, according to data from Statistics Norway.

Spirits volumes declined 5.6% to 12.5 million litres. The amount of beer sold decreased 3% to 263.1 million litres. The data showed there were 89.6 million litres of wine sold in Norway in 2023, down 1.9%.

However, soft drinks volumes rose 2.8% to 27m litres.

“If you compare the figures back in time, you have to go all the way back to 2019 to find lower figures in total commodity turnover,” said Lena Weitzenbürger Haarr from Statistics Norway. 

The statistics include all alcoholic beverages declared for duty by manufacturers and importers during a quarter.

Beer sales fell in both Germany and the Netherlands in 2023, while German wine consumption is also falling as demographics and consumer spending in the country change.

According to the German Wine Institute, consumption of wine in Germany fell from 19.9 litres per person to 19.2 litres, when comparing 1 August 2022 to 21 July 2023 against the corresponding period in the previous year.