Belgians are the highest consumers of sugar-sweetened soft drinks in the European Union, according to the latest data from Eurostat.
According to the pan-European data, for the year 2019, the share of people who reported that they drank sugar-sweetened beverages at least once a day was highest in Belgium at 20%, followed by Malta, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Bulgaria at approximately 12%.
In contrast, the lowest share was recorded in Estonia (2%), followed by Lithuania, Finland, Latvia, and Romania (around 3%).
The EU average for daily consumption was just below 10%.
Overall, 9% of people aged 15 and over drank sugar-sweetened soft drinks daily in the EU in 2019, while 6% consumed such beverages four to six times a week and 19% consumed them one to three times a week.
The data was released as part of a Eurostat report analysing EU consumer's behaviour towards sugar-sweetened soft drinks.
Sugar-Sweetened Soft Drinks
Daily consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks was more common for men (12%) than for women (7%).
In addition, data also showed that the older the age group, the lower the frequency of consumption, with the highest share recorded among those aged 15 to 24 years (14%).
People aged 65 to 74 and those aged 75 years and over had the lowest share of around 5%.
European Health Interview Survey
The data presented in this article are the first results of the third wave of the European Health Interview Survey.
The survey examines the frequency of drinking regular soft drinks, whether carbonated or not carbonated, bottled ice tea, energy drinks, syrup-based drinks, and similar or any other non-alcoholic soft drinks that contain sugar.
Different kinds of light, diet, or artificially sweetened soft drinks are not included, neither are coffee and tea, even if sweetened with sugar.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Conor Farrelly. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
