Distillers North Macedonia
A one-page guide to North Macedonia for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Skopje
- Official languages
- Macedonian, Albanian
- Currency
- Macedonian denar (MKD)
- Time zone
- UTC+1 (UTC+2 summer)
- Area
- 25,713 km²
People
- Population
- 1.8 million (2025)
- Population growth
- -0.2% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 62.9%
- Aged under 15
- 16.5%
- Aged 65 and over
- 18.5%
- Life expectancy
- 76.6 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$19.1 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$10,490 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 3.5% (2025)
- Inflation
- 4.1% (2025)
Climate
Four seasons: warm, dry summers and moderately cold, snowy winters; recorded extremes from about -20 C to 40 C. Three zones: mildly continental in the north, Mediterranean in the south, mountain climate at altitude.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- 18 to purchase (no minimum drinking age)
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 6.23 litres of pure alcohol (2022-2024 average (WHO estimate for 2024))
- Traditional drinks
- Rakija (fruit brandy; grape rakija is called loza/lozova)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); World Bank indicators (population, area, GDP, GDP per capita, growth, inflation); WHO Global Health Observatory, indicator SA_0000001688; UN Comtrade public API (HS 2208); Wikipedia: Legal drinking age; Wikipedia: Rakia; Wikipedia: North Macedonia; Euromonitor: Spirits in North Macedonia (Sept 2026, listing). Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.