Alcohol, Analytics, Baltic, Markets and Companies

The Cesu alus index shows the popularity of beer in comparison with other alcoholic drinks; the higher the index, the more people prefer beer to other beverages, informs LETA.

Beer index in Latvia is 47.6%; it is 52.2% in Estonia and 51.7% in Lithuania, thus the level of popularity of beer in Latvia lags behind its neighbor countries.

According to statistics, the average annual beer consumption per capita is 68 liters in Latvia, 76 liters in Lithuania, and 80 liters in Estonia. 80 liters is also the amount of beer that the "average European" drinks per year.

28.6% of Lithuanians admit the beer to be their favorite alcoholic drink, as well as 26.6% of Estonians and 21.7% of Latvians. 30.4% of Lithuanians, 28.1% of Estonians, and 21% of Latvians drink beer no less than once a week.

Beer drinking habits are more or less similar in all three Baltic countries – most often beer is consumed when relaxing outdoors, at picnics. Estonians stand out as the ones, which drink beer in saunas most often.

The survey was conducted in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia by the market and public opinion research center SKDS; polling 1,000 residents, aged 18 to 74, in each Baltic country.