More alcohol was sold in Russia between January and October than during any 10-month period since federal regulators started tracking retail sales in 2017. Year-over-year, retail alcohol sales rose by only 0.8 percent, but sales over the same period in 2024 were 21 percent higher than in 2017, according to the news outlet RBC.
The total retail sales volume of alcoholic beverages in Russia this year through October was 184.2 million decaliters (more than 486.6 million gallons). In this period, vodka sales reached a record 62.5 million decaliters (165.1 million gallons) — 15.3 percent higher than in 2017.