|
|
PRESS RELEASE:
31.01.2012
Travellers’ private imports of alcohol still account for 15 per cent of total alcohol consumption
According to the weekly interviews conducted by TNS Gallup, Finnish travellers’ private imports of alcohol in 2011 were on a par with 2010. When translated into pure alcohol, such imports into Finland totalled 7.8 million litres in 2011, as compared with 7.9 million litres in the previous year. In 2011, travellers’ private imports of alcoholic beverages amounted to slightly under 1.5 litres of alcohol per inhabitant. Private imports of alcohol accounted for almost 15 per cent of total alcohol consumption. That said, the structure of these private imports changed slightly.
In terms of volume, travellers’ imports of strong alcoholic drinks declined from 8.9 million to 8.0 million litres, down by a tenth. On the other hand, imports of wines increased from 9.5 million to 11.1 million litres, up about 17 per cent. Travellers’ imports of long drinks, ciders and intermediary products also rose. Imports of long drinks grew from 12.9 million to 13.8 million litres, a 7 per cent increase, while cider imports rose from 6.7 million to 7.4 million litres. Travellers’ imports of beer remained at the same level in 2011 as in 2010. According to TNS Gallup’s survey, Finnish travellers imported 24.5 million litres of beer in 2011.
In 2011, travellers imported about 80 per cent more alcohol into Finland than in 2003, when Estonia was not yet a member of the EU and there were still limits on how much alcohol could be imported tax-free. The information for imports by travellers in 2003 is based on annually collected data.
According to the data collected weekly by TNS Gallup, the volume of alcohol imported by Finnish travellers was at its peak in 2005. From 2005 to 2011, such imports declined by about 15 per cent. During this period, travellers’ private imports of strong alcoholic drinks decreased by about a third and imports of beer by almost a third. On the other hand, imports of wines and ciders grew by a fourth and a third, respectively, while long drink imports more than doubled from 2005 to 2011. In spite of the decline in private imports of strong alcoholic drinks, such drinks accounted for 45 per cent of the alcohol imported by Finnish travellers in 2011.
In 2011, Finnish travellers imported 665 million cigarettes, about 11 per cent more than in 2010. TNS Gallup started monitoring cigarette imports on a weekly basis in 2006. In 2011, cigarette imports were about 8 per cent lower than the average figure for 2006-2010. Travellers imported 7.4 million boxes of snuff into Finland in 2011, almost a tenth more than in 2010. TNS Gallup first asked about snuff imports in its weekly interviews in 2009, and since then imports of snuff have increased by 37 per cent. Private imports of alcoholic beverages into Finland, million
litres
|
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
| Beer |
37,8 |
34,6 |
25,2 |
21,8 |
20,7 |
26,3 |
24,4 |
24,5 |
| Cider |
4,4 |
5,7 |
4,3 |
5,9 |
5,5 |
6,5 |
6,7 |
7,4 |
| Long drinks |
3,2 |
6,1 |
6,3 |
8,4 |
6,5 |
9,9 |
12,9 |
13,8 |
| Wine |
6,5 |
8,9 |
8 |
6,4 |
7,3 |
8,1 |
9,5 |
11,1 |
| Intermediate prod. |
2,6 |
2,3 |
2 |
1,6 |
2,1 |
2,5 |
2,4 |
2,8 |
| Spirits |
10,8 |
11,8 |
8,9 |
9 |
9,6 |
9,4 |
8,9 |
8 |
The survey on travellers’ private imports was ordered by Alko Ltd, the Alcoholic Beverages Industries’ Association, the Federation of Finnish Commerce, the Finnish Tourism and Restaurant Industries Federation (MaRa), the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry, the Finnish Grocery Trade Association, the National Supervisory Authority For Welfare and Health (VALVIRA), the Association of Finnish Alcoholic Beverage Suppliers (SAJK), the National Institute For Health and Welfare (THL), the Ministry of Finance, 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)295 209221, +358 (0)50 324 9704
Esa Österberg, Senior Researcher, THL, tel. +358 (0)400 417 514
Elina Ussa, Managing Director, the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry, tel. +358 (0)9 1488 7407, +358 (0)45 260 7711
Karri Kunnas, Branch Manager, Alcoholic Beverages Industries’ Association of the Finnish Food and Drink Industries’ Federation, tel. +358 (0)9 1488 7224, +358 (0)40 161 5443
Susanna Heikkinen, Communications, Association of Finnish Alcoholic Beverage Suppliers, tel. +358 (0)40 588 1067
Paavo Heiskanen, Counsel, Finnish Tobacco Industries’ Federation, tel. +358 (0)9 622 0410, tel. +358 (0)45 318 6650
|
