Pakistan’s beverage industry volume declined by 9.2% owing to declines across all sectors, except dairy drinks in Q4 2020, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘Pakistan Beverages Consumption Trends and Forecasts Tracker, Q4 2020 (Dairy and Soy Drinks, Alcoholic Drinks, Soft Drinks and Hot Drinks)’ reveals that strong growth in fermented milk, white milk and condensed milk categories enabled gains in the dairy drinks sector.

Hot Drinks, the largest sector among all beverages in the country, saw its volumes fall by 6.9% in Q4 2020 on a Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) basis, led by strong declines across hot coffee, hot tea, and other hot drinks categories.

Biswarup Bose, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, says: “The loss of sales through ‘on-premise’ channels amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc across the beverage sectors in the country.”

Volumes in the alcoholic drinks sector declined by a moderate 3.1% in Q4 2020, even as wine grew by 3.8%.

Mr. Bose concludes: “While the negative health perception carried by carbonates will continue to plague volumes in the category, the anticipated economic recovery in the country, following the global recovery and the vaccine roll-out, will help revive sales of beverages in Pakistan.”