We drank less champagne during the recession - but still more than Americans, Germans and Belgians combined.

Imports of champagne dropped by five million bottles last year - a 15% fall - as Brits turned to cheaper fizz such as cava and prosecco. For the first time ever, people bought more cheaper bubbly than champagne.

But the UK remains the largest market for champagne. Other countries have seen much bigger falls, with Russian sales down by 57%, Italy by 28% and the US by 27%.

A total of 30.52 million bottles of bubbly were shipped to Britain last year, according to the Champagne Bureau, close to 2002 levels. There were fears that people could lose their appetite for champagne because of the recession and that sales could fall by up to 40%.

"The British have been drinking champagne for 300 years and they won't give it up, even in a recession," said Champagne Bureau director Francoise Peretti.

By contrast, exports to the US and Germany were at their lowest levels since the early 1990s.

The figures were released ahead of the world's biggest champagne tasting at Banqueting House in Whitehall yesterday.