PRESS RELEASE:
26.01.2010
Travellers’ private imports of alcohol and cigarettes rise in 2009
According to weekly interviews by TNS Gallup, private imports of beer by travellers increased by 27 per cent from 2008 to 2009. Long drink imports in turn grew by 52 per cent, intermediate products by 15 per cent, ciders by 19 per cent and wines by 10 per cent. Private imports of strong alcoholic drinks decreased by 2 per cent. In terms of litres, private imports of alcoholic drinks rose by 21 per cent compared with the previous year.
When translated into pure alcohol, travellers’ private imports were about 8 per cent greater in 2009 than in 2008. In total, travellers imported about 7.9 million litres of alcohol in 2009, which is estimated to represent 15 per cent of total alcohol consumption.
Private imports of alcohol by travellers have grown due to the three alcohol tax hikes implemented in 2008 and 2009. Alcohol imports are about 15 per cent lower than the record high seen in 2005.
Travellers continue to purchase most of the imported alcoholic beverages on ships or in Estonia. 69 per cent of such wines are bought on ships or in Estonia. The corresponding figure for strong alcoholic drinks is 73 per cent and for beers 81 per cent. Of all the alcohol imported by travellers, 54 per cent is accounted for by strong alcoholic drinks. Private imports account for about 75 per cent of unrecorded alcohol consumption.
According to annual data collected by TNS Gallup, legal and illegal home production of alcoholic beverages and smuggling have declined since 2004, accounting for about one per cent of total consumption.
The number of cigarettes imported by travellers increased by slightly over 3 per cent in 2009 compared with the previous year. Travellers stated that they imported 738 million cigarettes and 5.7 million boxes of moist snuff last year. About a quarter of travellers returning to Finland brought tobacco products with them. Of them, slightly over 40 per cent imported tobacco products for someone else. Almost 5 billion cigarettes are sold in Finland each year.
Private imports of alcoholic
beverages into Finland, million litres
|
|
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
| Beer |
37.8 |
34.6 |
25.2 |
21.8 |
20.7 |
26.3 |
| Cider |
4.4 |
5.7 |
4.3 |
5.9 |
5.5 |
6.5 |
| Long drinks |
3.2 |
6.1 |
6.3 |
8.4 |
6.5 |
9.9 |
| Wine |
6.5 |
8.9 |
8.0 |
6.4 |
7.3 |
8.1 |
| Intermediate prod. |
2.6 |
2.3 |
2.0 |
1.6 |
2.1 |
2.5 |
| Spirits |
10.8 |
11.8 |
8.9 |
9.0 |
9.6 |
9.4 |
TNS Gallup’s survey on travellers’ private imports of alcohol and cigarettes was commissioned by the National Supervisory Authority For Welfare and Health (VALVIRA), the National Institute For Health and Welfare (THL), the Ministry of Finance, Alko Ltd, the Alcoholic Beverages Industries’ Association of the Finnish Food and Drink Industries’ Federation, the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry, the Finnish Grocery Trade Association, the Association of Finnish Alcoholic Beverage Suppliers (SAJK), the Finnish Tourism and Restaurant Industries Federation (MaRa) and the Finnish Tobacco Industries’ Federation. Data is collected on a weekly basis by conducting 500 telephone interviews.
For more information, contact:
Lennart Wahlfors, Head of Data Administration, VALVIRA, tel. +358 (0)9 7729 2417, +358 (0)50 324 9704
Esa Österberg, Senior Researcher, THL, tel. +358 (0)400 417 514
Tero Kallio, Managing Director, The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry, tel. +358 (0)40 729 4513
Irmeli Mustonen, Branch Manager, Alcoholic Beverages Industries’ Association of the Finnish Food and Drink Industries’ Federation, tel. +358 (0)9 1488 7206, +358 (0)400 817 221
Paavo Heiskanen, Finnish Tobacco Industries’ Federation, tel. +358(0)9 622 0410, +358 (0)45 3186650
