OREANDA-NEWS  In the first half of 2025, retail beer sales in Russia fell by 16.3 percent year-on-year. This is reported by RBC with reference to data from Rosalokoltabakcontrol (RATK).

According to the department, sales of the drink decreased to 291.1 million decaliters. This decrease is of a technical nature related to a change in the accounting structure, the RATK added. At the same time, according to Nielsen, the growth rate of foam sales is slowing down — from January to July, the market grew by 2.3 percent in physical terms, while a year earlier the increase was 6.9 percent.

According to Igor Khavsky, chairman of the Opora Russia commission for the production and turnover of brewing products, the reason for the decrease in beer production and consumption is the increase in prices. Due to the increase in excise taxes (they increased by 15.4 percent at the beginning of the year), the cost increased accordingly. In 2023, the average price per liter of beer was 120 rubles, in 2024 — 129 rubles, and at the end of July 2025 it reached 151 rubles per liter — prices have increased by more than a quarter (26 percent) since 2023, Nielsen added.

According to ROMIR, almost 70 percent of adult Russians buy beer. The research holding conducted a survey among Russians aged 18 and over from July 2024 to June 2025. 68.4 percent of the respondents bought beer at least once a year. 72 percent of them buy a drink once a month or more often. On average, beer was purchased more than 50 times a year.