Srilanka, Feb. 24 -- Sri Lanka's legal liquor consumption declined by 9.5 percent Year-on-Year (YoY) in the first ten months of 2024, driven by a significant drop in hard liquor consumption following tax increases, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Total legal liquor consumption fell to 27.2 million absolute litres during the period, down from 28.2 million absolute litres in the same period of 2023. Hard liquor consumption saw an 8.9 percent decline to 15.5 million absolute litres, while beer consumption experienced a marginal increase of 3.6 percent, reaching 11.5 million absolute litres.

The decline in consumption comes as the government raised excise duties on liquor by 14 percent effective from 1st of January in 2024, as part o...