The Finns’ most common drink in Estonia is alcohol, although its price is on the rise. asked Finns who were shopping in Tallinn which drinks to buy in Estonia.
TALLINN During the December weekend, the Estonian ships are packed. The majority of Finns stops in Tallinn.
The rise in consumer prices has reduced the attractiveness of Estonia as a shopping destination. However, there is one product group that still takes hold of the journey of Finns almost by itself.
Järvenpääläinen Elina Muurimäki sits with his friend in the Nautica center opposite Terminal D.
– We came to shop for clothes.
And what is really worth buying in Estonia, i.e. where is the biggest price difference in favor of Estonia?
– Probably the alcohol. Most of our group also went to Superalko, says Muurimäki, referring to the large alcohol market located next to the harbor.
Market’s parking lot seems to confirm Muurimäki’s words. It is full of Finnish cars.
The graphic below shows how consumer prices have developed in Finland and Estonia:
Tentacles at half price
Brought from Heinävedi to Tallinn Pekka Ruuskanen has loaded the trunk of his car full of tentacles and beer boxes.
– Greetings to Petteri Orpo, Ruuskanen laughs.
According to him, Finnish-made tentacles in Estonia cost exactly half of the prices in Finland.
– A 12-pack of pineapple tentacles like that costs thirty in Finland. Here, for the same money, you can get a 24-pack with pledges.
Hartwall Original Long Drink 5.5% 0.33 l
Suomen S-kaupat, online store: 35.16 euros (12-pack)
Estonian Prisma online store: 39.30 euros (24-pack)
The cheapest price per liter, long drink
Finnish: Pirkka lime wedge 4.7% 0.5 l
K-ruoka.fi online store: 4.80 euros/liter
Estonia: Sinebrychoff LD Grapefruit 5.5% 1.5 l
Rimi.ee online store: 2.59 euros/liter
Also a Superalko customer service representative Aive Annuk says tentacles and beer boxes are perennial hits among Finns.
– Right now, we are also looking for high-quality red wines, because Christmas is coming, Annuk states.
– Quite a lot of people buy lighter mixed drinks. Especially young people who don’t want too much alcohol.
He says that Finns’ rush to buy Christmas treats can be seen earlier than normal this year:
A native of Kotka Isa Kääpä matches Aive Annuk’s profiling very well. In addition to tentacles, energy drinks go in the shopping cart.
– And something like these mixed drinks, Kääpä adds.
The alcohol tax will increase in the next few years
A couple of years ago, Estonia had Europe’s worst inflation, which has raised the price level. Alcoholic drinks are still cheap in Finnish terms.
It is due to a researcher at the Estonian Economic Institute Elmar Orron including, above all, the excise tax on alcohol.
For example beer alcohol tax of more than 3.5% in Estonia is only a good third (13.34 cents per centiliter of ethyl alcohol) of the level in Finland (36.20 cents). There is also an almost three-fold difference in the tax on spirits.
In the coming years, the gap is shrinking. The Estonian government intends to increase the alcohol tax in 2025–2028 five percentage points per year.
– The passenger import of alcohol to Finland is decreasing, but most of it is still imported from Estonia and Estonian ships, Elmar Orro tells by phone.
In 2023, 58 percent of Finns’ alcohol passenger imports came from Estonia or Estonian ships, also says Statistics of THL.
The share of Estonian imports is particularly high in ciders and mild mixed drinks. 81 percent of them were imported from Estonia.
However, traveling to Estonia costs money. If the price of alcohol also includes ship tickets and other travel costs, is it worth going to Estonia anymore for alcohol?
– It’s worth it, it’s worth it, from Turku Pekka Matikainen smiles widely.
– But not because of one box of food. Then, when you have a car, you get more stuff.