The Swedish state-run drinks monopoly Systembolaget has reported a monthly drop of over 6% in sales on last year.
Systembolaget’s monthly figures show sales of spirits fell by 14.2% compared to September last year, while sales of alcohol in general fell by 6.1%.
Figures for August and July show similar falls. The worst hit areas were the northern county of Norrbotten and the southern county of Skane.
The fall-off is blamed on the increasing popularity of cross-border shopping due to the lower alcohol excise duties in Finland and Denmark.
The retailer’s sales figures have been falling steadily throughout the year. In March this year decanter.com reported the Scandinavian monopoly system was inevitably going to become redundant due to the ease with which people can hop across borders to get cheaper alcohol.
This is especially true for countries like Estonia, whose EU membership means much lower taxes on drink.
Written by Adam Lechmere
