Norway’s registered alcohol sales fell 1.8% in the second quarter

Registered alcohol sales in Norway fell 1.8% year over year in the second quarter as weaker demand for wine and spirits outweighed a small decline in beer and another increase in ready-to-drink beverages, according to new data released Wednesday by Statistics Norway.

The country recorded 105.206 million liters of alcoholic beverages sold between April and June, down by 1.967 million liters from the same period in 2025. The figures come from excise tax returns filed by companies that pay alcohol duties to the Norwegian Tax Administration.

The sharpest declines came from wine and spirits. Wine sales fell to 21.052 million liters in the second quarter from 22.645 million liters a year earlier, a drop of 1.593 million liters, or 7.0%. Measured in pure alcohol, wine accounted for 2.616 million liters during the quarter, down from 2.812 million liters a year earlier. On a per capita basis for residents age 15 and older, wine sales fell to 4.45 liters from 4.83 liters, a decline of 7.9%.

Spirits followed a similar pattern. Sales fell to 2.573 million liters from 2.768 million liters in the second quarter of 2025, a decline of 195,000 liters, or 7.0%. In pure alcohol terms, spirits dropped to 1.003 million liters from 1.079 million liters. Per capita sales for people age 15 and older fell to 0.54 liters from 0.59 liters, down 8.5%.

Beer remained by far the largest category by volume in Norway. Sales reached 72.269 million liters in the second quarter, compared with 73.012 million liters a year earlier, a decline of 743,000 liters, or 1.0%. Per capita sales fell to 15.27 liters from 15.56 liters, down 1.9%. In pure alcohol terms, beer contributed 3.274 million liters, compared with 3.308 million liters in the same quarter last year.

Ready-to-drink beverages, listed by Statistics Norway as alcopops, were the only category to post year-over-year growth in the quarter. Sales rose to 9.312 million liters from 8.749 million liters, an increase of 563,000 liters, or 6.4%. Per capita sales rose to 1.97 liters from 1.86 liters, up 5.9%. Their pure alcohol volume increased to 420,000 liters from 395,000 liters.

Beer made up about 68.7% of all registered beverage volume sold in the quarter, while wine accounted for about 20.0%, alcopops 8.9% and spirits 2.4%, based on calculations from the published data. The picture was different when measured by pure alcohol. Beer represented about 44.8% of the total, wine 35.8%, spirits 13.7% and alcopops 5.7%.

Total pure alcohol sold in the second quarter came to 7.314 million liters, down from 7.594 million liters a year earlier. That was a decline of about 3.7%, larger than the 1.8% drop in beverage volume. Statistics Norway said the difference reflected the heavier declines in wine and spirits, which have higher alcohol content than the categories that held up better.

For residents age 15 and older, second-quarter sales amounted to 1.54 liters of pure alcohol per person.

The trend looked different over the first half of the year. From January through June, registered alcohol sales rose to 192.270 million liters from 188.157 million liters in the same period of 2025, an increase of 4.113 million liters, or 2.2%. Statistics Norway said that gain was driven by a strong first quarter, when sales rose 7.5% year over year, before turning lower in the April-to-June period.

The agency said the timing of Easter may have played a role in the gap between the two quarters. In 2026, Easter fell at the start of April, and some transactions linked to the holiday may have been declared for excise tax purposes during the first quarter. Statistics Norway said that could help explain both the sharp rise in January through March and part of the second-quarter decline.

By category, beer sales in the first half rose to 131.395 million liters, up 3.3% from a year earlier. Alcopops climbed to 15.806 million liters, up 6.4%. Wine fell 2.2% to 40.017 million liters, while spirits declined 2.8% to 5.053 million liters. The first-half figures showed a clearer split between lower-alcohol categories and wine and spirits, which remained below last year’s levels.

Measured in pure alcohol, total sales for the first six months were 13.610 million liters, compared with 13.544 million liters in the same period of 2025. That was an increase of just 0.5%, much smaller than the 2.2% rise in beverage volume. Beer contributed 5.956 million liters of pure alcohol in the first half, up 3.3%. Wine fell to 4.970 million liters, down about 2.1%. Spirits dropped to 1.970 million liters, down 2.9%, while alcopops rose to 713,000 liters, up about 6.3%.

The new data also fit into a broader pattern seen in 2025. Norway sold 383.653 million liters of alcoholic beverages last year, down 1.2% from 388.286 million liters in 2024. Beer totaled 257.526 million liters, wine 85.185 million liters, alcopops 29.553 million liters and spirits 11.389 million liters. Compared with 2024, spirits fell 4.8%, wine fell 1.8% and beer fell 1.3%, while alcopops rose 3.0%.

On a per capita basis for people age 15 and older, 2025 ended with 81.77 liters of alcoholic beverages sold. Of that, 54.89 liters were beer, 18.16 liters wine, 6.30 liters alcopops and 2.43 liters spirits. Beer therefore accounted for roughly two-thirds of all beverage volume sold during the year.

In pure alcohol terms, total sales in 2025 were 28.051 million liters, equal to 5.98 liters per resident age 15 and older. Beer contributed 11.697 million liters of pure alcohol, wine 10.579 million liters, spirits 4.442 million liters and alcopops 1.333 million liters. Per capita, that amounted to 2.49 liters of pure alcohol from beer, 2.25 liters from wine, 0.95 liters from spirits and 0.28 liters from alcopops. Total pure alcohol sales had been 28.562 million liters in 2024, so the 2025 figure marked a decline of about 1.8%.

The combined 2025 and 2026 figures show the clearest continuity in alcopops. They were the only category to rise last year, with a 3.0% increase, then climbed 6.3% in the first quarter of 2026 and another 6.4% in the second quarter. Wine has followed a different path. After ending 2025 with a 1.8% decline, it started 2026 with a 3.9% increase in the first quarter, but the 7.0% fall in the second quarter pushed the first-half total back into negative territory.

Beer also started the year much more strongly than it finished the spring. Beer sales rose 9.1% in the first quarter to 59.126 million liters from 54.185 million liters a year earlier, then slipped 1.0% in the second quarter. Spirits rose 1.9% in the first quarter, to 2.480 million liters from 2.433 million liters, before falling 7.0% in the second.

Statistics Norway’s alcohol sales series covers beverages above 0.7% alcohol. It classifies spirits as drinks above 22% alcohol. Wine includes beverages other than beer above 4.7% and up to 22%, while alcopops cover drinks other than beer above 0.7% and up to 4.7%. Beer is counted from 0.7% alcohol upward.

The figures measure quantities reported for tax purposes by producers and importers. They do not include duty-free purchases, alcohol brought in directly by travelers, home production, smuggled alcohol or alcohol intended for medical, technical or scientific uses. The data therefore reflect registered, taxed sales in Norway rather than all alcohol that may be consumed in the country. Statistics Norway said the next update to the series is scheduled for Dec. 2, 2026.