Alcohol consumption and closed borders - how COVID-19 restrictions have impacted alcohol sales and consumption in Europe

Background

The closing of bars, restaurants and international borders during the COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes in alcohol availability. This study provides a first systematic overview of the monthly development of alcohol sales in Europe during the pandemic in order to determine the effect of closed borders on the sales and consumption of alcohol.

Methods

The study covers 72 months from January 2015 to December 2020 in 14 countries from northern, central and western Europe with excise revenue data for beer, spirits, wine separately and summed, converted into litres of pure alcohol per capita 15+ as a proxy for alcohol sales. March–December 2020 is seen as the pandemic period. The analyses consist of (1) descriptive trends of sales before and during the pandemic, (2) assessment of the pandemic impact on sales by time-series analyses and (3) case studies of countries and a region with substantial cross-border inflow or outflow of alcohol.

Results

The result shows an overall reduction in alcohol sales with 3.6% during the pandemic. Nevertheless, the results differ based on the level of cross-border purchasing flows pre-pandemic, as countries with high cross-border inflow saw an increase in domestic sales as the pandemic hit. Norway, for example, saw a 23% increase in domestic sales during the pandemic period March–December 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

Conclusion

The closing of intra-European borders had a significant redistributing effect on alcohol sales. While noting sales increases, cross-border inflow countries generally saw a decrease in total amount of alcohol consumed per capita as not all cross-border purchases were replaced by domestic sales. This has important policy implications as large volumes of cross-border inflow of alcohol can negatively affect excise revenue as well as public health outcomes.

The methodology can be used to further explore the reliance of different purchasing streams in a domestic alcohol market.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-13014-1.

Cross-sectional study on the characteristics of unrecorded alcohol consumption in nine newly independent states between 2013 and 2017

OBJECTIVES

As unrecorded alcohol use contributes to a substantial burden of disease, this study characterises this phenomenon in newly independent states (NIS) of the former Soviet Union with regard to the sources of unrecorded alcohol, and the proportion of unrecorded of total alcohol consumption. We also investigate associated sociodemographic characteristics and drinking patterns.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional data on overall and unrecorded alcohol use in the past 7 days from WHO STEPwise Approach to NCD Risk Factor Surveillance (STEPS) surveys. Descriptive statistics were calculated at the country level, hierarchical logistic and linear regression models were used to investigate sociodemographic characteristics and drinking patterns associated with using unrecorded alcohol.

SETTING

Nine NIS (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) in the years 2013-2017.

PARTICIPANTS

Nationally representative samples including a total of 36 259 participants.

RESULTS

A total of 6251 participants (19.7%; 95% CI 7.9% to 31.5%) reported alcohol consumption in the past 7 days, 2185 of which (35.1%; 95% CI 8.2% to 62.0%) reported unrecorded alcohol consumption with pronounced differences between countries. The population-weighted average proportion of unrecorded consumption in nine NIS was 8.7% (95% CI 5.9% to 12.4%). The most common type of unrecorded alcohol was home-made spirits, followed by home-made beer and wine. Older (45-69 vs 25-44 years) and unemployed (vs employed) participants had higher odds of using unrecorded alcohol. More nuanced sociodemographic differences were observed for specific types of unrecorded alcohol.

CONCLUSIONS

This contribution is the first to highlight both, prevalence and composition of unrecorded alcohol consumption in nine NIS. The observed proportions and sources of unrecorded alcohol are discussed in light of local challenges in policy implementation, especially in regard to the newly formed Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), as some but not all NIS are in the EAEU.

Beer drinking, resistance and the politics of alcohol tax levy in Botswana

Aim:

The study investigated how beer drinkers coped, made sense of, and internalised the effects of the 30% alcohol levy implementation in Botswana in 2008.

Methods:

Constructivist grounded theory guided this study and explored how active beer drinkers ( n = 20) coped with the new alcohol reforms.

Results:

Beer drinkers resisted the new alcohol reforms through various acts theorised as individualised resistance, social drinking networks and seeking alternative drinking avenues. These resistance(s) are synergistic, fluid and situated. Actions by beer drinkers are culturally framed, enacted through the aegis of time to entrench drinker’s autonomy.

Conclusions:

The alcohol levy implementation in Botswana illuminates the intersection of power, culture and resistance. Policies that are perceived to be draconian and not evidence-based are likely to be resisted by consumers. An examination of the interplay between power/resistance is critical for future alcohol policy development.

The global proportion and volume of unrecorded alcohol in 2015

Background

Alcohol consumption is associated with elevated risks of disease and injury, and the best indicator of the level of consumption in a country is total alcohol per capita (APC) consumption among adults which comprises recorded consumption and unrecorded consumption. While recorded consumption can be assessed with small measurement bias via taxation or other governmental records, unrecorded consumption is more difficult to assess. The objectives of this study were to estimate the country-specific proportion and volume of unrecorded APC in 2015, to identify main sources of unrecorded alcohol and to assess to what extent experts perceive unrecorded alcohol as a public health, social, and financial problem.

Methods

Estimates of unrecorded APC were based on a multilevel fractional response regression model using data from World Health Organization’s (WHO) STEPwise approach to surveillance surveys (16 countries, 66 188 participants), estimates from the routine WHO reporting on key indicators of alcohol use (189 countries), and a nominal group expert assessment (42 countries, 129 experts). Expert assessments also included data on the sources of unrecorded alcohol and the perception of unrecorded alcohol as a public health, social, and financial problem.

Results

The volume of global unrecorded APC was 1.6 L pure alcohol, representing 25% of the total APC. The volume of unrecorded APC was highest in Europe (2.1 L per capita), while the proportion of unrecorded APC was highest in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region (57% of the total alcohol). In countries with available data, homemade alcohol was identified as a major source of unrecorded alcohol. The majority of experts considered unrecorded alcohol to be a public health (62%), social (60%), and financial problem (54%).

Conclusions

High volumes of unrecorded alcohol are consumed globally; however, the volumes consumed and the sources of the unrecorded alcohol exhibit large geographical variation.

Who are private alcohol importers in the Nordic countries?

Aims

The high price of alcohol in the Nordic countries has been a long-standing policy to curb consumption, which has led consumers to importing alcohol from countries with lower prices. This paper seeks to develop a profile of alcohol importers in four Nordic countries.

Methods

Cross-sectional data from general population surveys in Denmark (2003-2006), Norway (2004), Sweden (2003-2006) and Finland (2005-2006) were analysed by multiple logistic and linear regression. Independent variables included region, socio-demographics, drinking indicators and alcohol-related problems. Outcome variables were importer status and amount of imported alcohol.

Results

People living in regions close to countries with lower alcohol prices were more often importers and imported higher amounts than people living in other regions. Higher educated persons were more likely to be importers, but the amounts imported were smaller than those by people with lower education. Persons with higher incomes were also more likely to be importers and they also imported larger amounts than people with lower incomes. In Sweden and Denmark regional differences of importer rates were more pronounced for persons of lower incomes. Age, risky single-occasion drinking, risky drinking and alcohol problems were positively related to the amounts of imported alcohol.

Conclusions

Private importers in the Nordic countries are an integrated yet heavy drinking segment of society and do not appear to be located on the fringes of society.

Alcohol Retailing in Canadian and Nordic Contexts: Challenges and Opportunities in Balancing Trade and Prevention Agendas

This article involves a comparison of the Nordic alcohol-monopoly countries with Canadian provinces that have a tradition of off-premise alcohol retail monopolies. The aim of the article is to shed light on recent developments in Canadian and Nordic alcohol-retailing systems, and to propose a way forward for alcohol-control policy that involves balancing alcohol trade and damage-reduction agendas. The article first considers developments over the past three decades in alcohol production, marketing, and retailing involving a concentration of production, and an expansion and increased sophistication of alcohol marketing and retailing, and the underlying international and national pressures. Next, it examines examples of recent alcohol policy making in Canada and the Nordic countries, noting the challenges of controlling total alcohol consumption and high-risk drinking in a market-oriented environment. Third, it offers several steps forward that will facilitate a better balance of alcohol trade and problem-prevention agendas in the context of off-premise alcohol-retail-control systems.

A New Alcohol Environment

■ AIMS

This article reports developments in the Finnish alcohol field from 1990 to 2010, focusing on changes and trends in alcohol consumption, drinking habits and alcohol-related harm. We pay special attention to changes in alcohol availability and alcohol policy and look at the factors behind changes in alcohol policies. The article will also discuss the current status and future prospects of alcohol policy and alcohol control as well as differences between Finland and the situation in the neighbouring countries with a similar alcohol monopoly.

■ METHODS

Routinely collected statistical data on alcohol consumption and related harm as well as repeated cross-sectional representative population surveys will be reviewed, as will changes in alcohol policy and availability.

■ RESULTS

Apart from the economic recession in the early 1990s, alcohol consumption and related harm have increased in Finland. Changes in alcohol consumption are mostly explained by changes in consumer incomes and alcohol policy measures. However, EU membership has restricted tightened alcohol control and given more room for private alcohol industry to affect alcohol policy.

■ CONCLUSIONS

While increased alcohol-related harm has stopped the Finns from moving toward a more liberal alcohol policy, EU membership and private alcohol interests have made it considerably more difficult to combat alcohol-related harm with alcohol control measures.