The excise duty on alcohol rose in Estonia in the beginning of February. A second and even bigger increase is set to take effect in July 2017.
The excise duty for wine and other fermented beverages with an alcohol content below 6% (ABV) rose from 48.55 cents to 53.41 cents and will jump to 77.44 cents in July. For wine and fermented beverages with an alcohol content above 6% ABV, the increase effective from February was from 111.98 cents to 123.18 cents.
A 0.5-liter can of beer which prior to the hike cost €1.09 will cost €1.11 following the February increase and €1.29 following the second increase in July, taking into account only the excise duty portion of the price.
The rate of the duty for hard alcohol will rise by 10% every year through 2020, with the increase for 2017 also taking effect on Wednesday.