Alcohol, Estonia, Financial Services, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Taxation, Wages

"When determining excise taxes it should always be observed that the alcohol excise tax should increase a bit faster than incomes of people," Josing said, adding that law-makers and ministries should look at the forecast of incomes before planning the tax increase. Josing said that in recent history excise tax increases have been constant in Estonia in order to cover tax revenue gaps but this has not changed the price of alcohol for consumers really.

The Ministry of Social Affairs introduced the alcohol consumption habits of Estonians and the Estonian alcohol policy on Tuesday. According to the Estonian Institute of Economic Research alcohol consumption survey, a half of the respondents favour a stricter alcohol policy. Also, the majority of respondents found that Estonians should limit their own alcohol consumption.

Alcohol consumption fell 2.6% to 11.8 litres per adult per capita last year. Josing said that consumption fell despite the fact that in 2013, the average salary increased.

The alcohol consumption figures of the adult population do not include alcohol consumed by foreign tourists. While alcohol consumption in Estonia fell, sale of alcohol and tourists buying it to take home increased.

Josing said that the share of tourists of the Estonian alcohol consumption is quite high – one third. Josing says that Finns alone should not be accused like it is usually done. She said that besides Finns, alcohol consumed on board Swedish ferries and by Russian tourists also plays a big role in the statistics.