Some 2.5 million bottles of champagne were sold in the Netherlands in 2017, an increase of 7.7% over the previous year, the Benelux Champagne Bureau said on Monday.

The value of the imports was more than 11% higher. The total does not include champagne bought by Dutch tourists while on holiday in France and brought back to the Netherlands, the agency said.

The Netherlands is ranked 13^th in worldwide champagne sales which totalled a record €4.9bn last year.

The US is the largest champagne importer, followed by Britain which ‘continues to be adversely affected by the Brexit effect, with sales falling by 5.7%’, the bureau said.