Alcohol sales in Russian restaurants fall 42.4% in first half of 2026
Alcohol sales in Russia’s HoReCa sector, excluding beer and similar drinks, fell 42.4% year on year to 818,300 decalitres in January–June 2026. Wine recorded the steepest decline, while retail alcohol sales remained almost unchanged.
HoReCa volumes contract while retail remains stable
Sales of alcoholic beverages in Russia’s hotel, restaurant and catering sector fell 42.4% year on year to 818,300 decalitres in January–June 2026, according to alcohol market participants whose calculations were reviewed by Kommersant. The total excludes beer, cider, mead and related products. The scale of the decline points to a sharp contraction in on-premise consumption rather than a broad retreat from alcohol purchases.
Sales through stores were comparatively stable. Retail alcohol volumes decreased by only 0.65% to 96.7 million decalitres during the same period. The contrast suggests that consumers are shifting spending away from restaurants and bars, where alcohol carries a substantial service markup, while continuing to buy drinks for consumption at home.
Wine bears the largest decline
Wine products posted the steepest fall among the reported categories. HoReCa wine sales dropped 44.8% year on year to 361,000 decalitres, according to the market calculations cited by Kommersant. Sales of beverages with an alcohol content above 9% declined 39.78% to 447,300 decalitres. Together, these figures show that the downturn affected both wine and stronger alcoholic drinks.
The figures have direct implications for wineries, distillers, distributors and restaurant suppliers. A sustained reduction in on-premise orders can weaken a sales channel that is important for premium labels and products commonly introduced to consumers through restaurant wine lists and bar menus. Stable store volumes may offer suppliers an alternative outlet, but retail competition, pricing and product positioning differ from the economics of HoReCa distribution.
Fewer visits and higher bills pressure restaurants
Fiscal data operator Platforma OFD reported that the number of restaurant and bar receipts across Russia fell 4% in the first half, while Moscow recorded an 11% decline. At the same time, the average bill increased 8% nationwide to 3,200 rubles and 6% in Moscow to 4,500 rubles. Alcohol’s share of the restaurant bill fell by 4 percentage points to 37% across Russia and by 5 percentage points to 32% in Moscow.
Earlier data underline the pressure on customer traffic. In January–March 2026, restaurant and bar receipt counts declined 3% nationwide, 12% in Moscow and 8% in St Petersburg, according to Platforma OFD’s Chek Index service. Kommersant reported that this contributed to a wave of closures in cities with more than one million residents, where the total number of establishments fell by 2–11%. The publication identified weaker consumer activity and declining real household incomes since summer 2025 as major causes, while continued price growth encouraged customers to cut discretionary spending. For alcohol producers and distributors, the split between resilient retail sales and collapsing HoReCa volumes makes channel strategy increasingly important: demand has not disappeared at the same rate across the market, but it has moved toward less expensive consumption occasions.
