Alcohol consumption in Russia by year: how much is drunk in the country and by region
In 2023, each resident of Russia consumed 10.44 liters of pure alcohol per year. Five years earlier, in 2018, it was 11.36 liters, i.e. consumption fell by 8.1%. These are Rosstat data on the indicator “alcohol consumption per capita among people aged 15 and over”. Between regions the difference reaches dozens of times: in Chechnya it is 0.21 liters, in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug 28.21. Below is the dynamics by year, regional ranking, comparison with other countries and sales structure. Each block has an interactive chart on roschart.ru.
How much alcohol is drunk in Russia: data by year
The indicator is measured in liters of pure alcohol per person aged over 15. To get a sense of the scale: 10.44 liters of alcohol correspond to roughly 26 liters of 40% vodka per year per person. This is a conversion arithmetic, not a separate statistic, and on average it includes those who do not drink at all.
| Year | Liters of pure alcohol per person |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 11.36 |
| 2019 | 11.05 |
| 2020 | 11.00 |
| 2021 | 10.65 |
| 2022 | 10.45 |
| 2023 | 10.44 |
The curve goes down for five consecutive years, but the pace is slowing. In 2019 it was minus 0.31 liters, in 2021 minus 0.35, in 2022 minus 0.20, and in 2023 only minus 0.01. The last point almost coincided with the previous one. One year does not prove anything, but it looks like a plateau rather than a continuation of the decline.
Rosstat publishes these figures taking into account the results of the 2020 census: the population has been recalculated, so the series is comparable across all years.
Interactive version: alcohol consumption per capita by region, 2018-2023.
Which regions drink the most
The spread between subjects is huge. Here are the extreme values for 2023, liters of pure alcohol per capita:
| Highest | Liters | Lowest | Liters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nenets Autonomous Okrug | 28.21 | Chechen Republic | 0.21 |
| Jewish Autonomous Oblast | 21.57 | Republic of Ingushetia | 0.81 |
| Chukotka Autonomous Okrug | 17.75 | Republic of Dagestan | 1.27 |
| Kirov Oblast | 15.80 | Kabardino-Balkaria | 3.30 |
| Komi Republic | 15.46 | Karachay-Cherkessia | 3.62 |
| Republic of Karelia | 14.90 | Stavropol Krai | 5.51 |
The Jewish Autonomous Oblast has maintained high values for six consecutive years: from 19.81 to 22.57 liters. For comparison, Moscow had 6.26 liters in 2023, and Saint Petersburg 7.78. The difference between the JAO and the capital is 3.4 times, between the JAO and Dagestan 17 times.
Nenets Okrug stands out from the whole list: from 19.56 liters in 2018 to 28.21 in 2023, an increase of 8.65 liters. The district is home to only a few dozen thousand people, and with such small populations the per‑capita indicator is sensitive to any shift in sales. This is a general explanation; Rosstat does not disclose the reasons, so the figure should be treated as an extreme value rather than a everyday norm.
By federal districts the picture is as follows, liters per capita in 2023:
- North Caucasian: 2.76
- Southern: 8.04
- Central: 9.15
- Northwestern: 9.96
- Siberian: 11.18
- Volga: 11.19
- Far Eastern: 12.25
- Ural: 12.86
The North Caucasus stands apart: in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan the indicator does not rise above 1.3 liters. The other districts fall within a corridor of 8 to 13 liters.
The graph shows how far the lines diverge. Russia as a whole follows the 10‑11 liter line, Moscow stays around 6‑7, Dagestan is almost at zero, and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast does not drop below 19.8 liters. In the Saint Petersburg series, 2019 shows 15.31 liters, compared with 8.82 the year before and 8.51 the year after. This looks like a one‑off outlier in the source data and does not affect the overall trend.
Where consumption is falling the fastest
From 2018 to 2023 consumption decreased most where it was high:
- Magadan Oblast: from 18.33 to 12.98 litres (minus 5.35);
- Primorsky Krai: from 15.54 to 10.51 (minus 5.03);
- Khabarovsk Krai: from 16.77 to 13.10;
- Bryansk Oblast: from 15.19 to 12.50;
- Moscow: from 7.27 to 6.26.
The indicator rises in a minority of regions: Altai Republic (from 7.36 to 10.23), Chukotka (from 15.95 to 17.75), Kirov Oblast (from 14.89 to 15.80), Kalmykia Republic (from 8.07 to 10.04). Overall, regions with the highest values are reducing consumption faster than the rest.
If you live in one of the subjects, look at your row on the dataset page: the table includes both regions and federal districts, and the chart can be built for any row.
Comparison of Russia with Other Countries
In the collection "Russia and the Countries of the World" Rosstat presents WHO estimates of recorded alcohol consumption. These figures are compiled using a methodology different from the Russian series above, so they cannot be added to or subtracted from each other. However, within a single table the countries are comparable with each other. Liters of pure alcohol per resident aged over 15:
| Country | 2010 | 2015 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | 10.8 | 8.1 | 7.4 |
| Belarus | 14.3 | 10.3 | 10.8 |
| Estonia | 15.0 | 10.8 | 12.9 |
| Czechia | 12.7 | 13.1 | 13.4 |
| France | 12.3 | 11.6 | 10.8 |
| Germany | 11.2 | 10.8 | 10.8 |
| United States | 8.6 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| Japan | 6.5 | 6.3 | 6.3 |
| Kazakhstan | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.8 |
In this table Russia reduced the indicator from 10.8 to 7.4 liters between 2010 and 2022, i.e., by 31%. For comparison: Belarus from 14.3 to 10.8, Estonia from 15.0 to 12.9, Lithuania from 13.2 to 10.5, Finland from 9.7 to 7.6. The decline in neighboring countries is also noticeable, but Russia's is markedly stronger. Only Ukraine saw a sharper drop (from 7.8 to 3.3).
In 2010 Russia was at the level of present‑day Germany (10.8 liters), and in 2022 it fell below France, Poland (11.0), the United Kingdom (10.2) and the United States (9.0). The table leader in the latest year: Czechia, 13.4 liters, followed by Latvia and Estonia at 12.9.
Interactive version: alcoholic beverage consumption per capita by country.
What they drink: sales structure
The Russian Statistical Yearbook provides sales of alcoholic beverages to the population in millions of decaliters (one decaliter equals ten liters). There are five groups:
| Beverage | 2000 | 2010 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beer and beer drinks | 524.6 | 1004.0 | 761.5 | 753.5 | 769.6 |
| Vodka and liqueur‑based products | 214.6 | 157.8 | 85.7 | 91.3 | 91.9 |
| Wine (non‑sparkling) | 52.4 | 103.4 | 80.2 | 73.5 | 63.1 |
| Sparkling wines and champagne | 18.3 | 27.3 | 19.3 | 20.9 | 22.9 |
| Cognac | 4.1 | 11.1 | 12.2 | 12.8 | 14.1 |
Vodka is sold 2.3 times less than in 2000: from 214.6 to 91.9 million decaliters, down 57%. Beer hit a record amount in 2010, 1004 million, and by 2023 sales had fallen by 23%. Wine fell by 39% compared with 2010. Only cognac is growing: 3.4 times since 2000, but its share remains small compared with the others.
If you add the five groups, the share of beer by volume in 2023 was about 80%, vodka about 10%. In 2000 beer was 64%, vodka 26%. The country is shifting from strong to weak drinks, and the volumes of this shift are visible even without converting to pure alcohol. Important note: before 2019 cognac and wine in the table were counted under different group names ("cognacs, cognac drinks", "grape and fruit wines"), so old and new points should be compared with caution.
Interactive version: sales of alcoholic beverages to the population in Russia.
How Much Is Spent on Alcohol: Retail Sales in Rubles
Here the picture is the opposite. The volume in liters falls, while revenue rises. According to Rosstat, retail sales of alcoholic beverages and beer amounted to 2.24 trillion rubles in 2019 and 3.97 trillion rubles in 2025 (adjusted annual data). That is a growth of 1.8 times. Prices are built into this growth: according to the physical volume index at comparable prices, over the six years 2020‑2025 physical sales increased in total by 29%, while the yearly dynamics are uneven: 99.6% in 2020, 106.4% in 2021, 107.2% in 2023, 102.5% in 2025.
For January‑March 2026, alcohol and beer sales reached 943.4 billion rubles, 29% more than in the first quarter of 2025 (729.0 billion). The physical volume index for this period was 115.5%. The rise in ruble revenue and the decline in liters per capita in these rows do not contradict each other: revenue depends on prices, while liters are counted in another table with a different methodology.
Interactive version: retail sales of alcoholic beverages and beer.
How This Relates to Morbidity and Health
Alongside consumption, the number of newly identified cases of alcoholism declines: from 107.8 per 100 thousand people in 2010 to 56.9 in 2025, although 2025 saw a sharp jump from 43.4 the year before. A detailed regional analysis is in the article "Alcoholism in Russia by Year". Read about how this relates to life expectancy in the piece "Life Expectancy of Men and Women".
Frequently Asked Questions
How many liters of alcohol per year does one Russian drink?
According to Rosstat data for 2023, 10.44 liters of pure alcohol per resident aged over 15. In the WHO table cited by the same Rosstat, for 2022 the figure is lower: 7.4 liters of recorded consumption. The numbers are built using different methodologies, therefore they differ.
Which region of Russia drinks the most?
In 2023 the first place is the Nenets Autonomous Okrug with 28.21 liters per resident, followed by the Jewish Autonomous Oblast (21.57) and Chukotka (17.75). Among large subjects the highest are Kirov Oblast (15.80) and Sverdlovsk (14.32).
Where in Russia do people drink the least?
In the North Caucasus republics: Chechnya 0.21 liter, Ingushetia 0.81, Dagestan 1.27. Among other regions the lowest figure is in Moscow, 6.26 liters.
Is alcohol consumption decreasing in Russia?
Yes, but the pace is slowing. From 2018 to 2023 the indicator fell from 11.36 to 10.44 liters, while the difference between 2022 and 2023 was only 0.01 liter.
What sells the most in Russia: beer, vodka or wine?
Beer: in 2023, 769.6 million decaliters versus 91.9 million vodka and 63.1 million wine.
In brief
- In 2023 Russia had 10.44 liters of pure alcohol per resident per year, in 2018 it was 11.36 (minus 8.1%).
- The decline rate is fading: in 2023 minus 0.01 liter compared to 2022.
- Spread across regions from 0.21 liter (Chechnya) to 28.21 (Nenets Okrug), in Moscow 6.26.
- Vodka sales have fallen by 57% since 2000, beer since its 2010 peak by 23%, cognac has become 3.4 times more.
- Retail alcohol sales in money grew from 2.24 trillion rubles in 2019 to 3.97 trillion in 2025.
Data: Rosstat, Sustainable Development Goals indicators, “Russia and the world’s countries”, Russian Statistical Yearbook, operational retail trade data.