ROME - Italy, together with Greece, is at the bottom of the EU in the total expenditure of alcoholic beverages in 2019 with a share of 0.9% like the Greek country.
Spending on alcoholic beverages by EU households is 117 billion euros, equal to 0.8% of EU GDP.
This was noted by Eurostat.
Leading the ranking with the highest spending are three Baltic states: Latvia (4.8%), Estonia (4.7%) and Lithuania (3.7%).
The economic analysis does not include alcoholic beverages paid for in restaurants and hotels.
The report, prepared by the European statistical office on the situation prior to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, shows that between 2009 and 2019 the share of total household spending on alcohol decreased in 13 EU member states.
The largest decrease was recorded in Lithuania (from 5.5% of total household expenditure in 2009 to 3.7% in 2019, -1.8 percentage points), followed by Latvia (-1.5), Bulgaria (- 1.3) and Estonia (-1.1).
Household alcohol expenditure on the other hand increased in seven EU Member States with the largest increases recorded in Romania (from 2.1% of total household expenditure in 2009 to 2.6% in 2019, +0.5 points percentages) and in Portugal (from 1.1% of total household spending in 2009 to 1.4% in 2019, +0.3). In six EU member states, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands and Slovenia, the share remained stable.