Japan: Beer and quasi-beer sales increase for the first time in 18 years
Beer and quasi-beer sales in Japan grew 2% to 3% year on year in 2022, marking the first expansion in 18 years, estimated data from four major domestic brewers showed on January 13.
Sales to restaurants and bars recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, but total sales were still down around 10% compared with 2019.
Sales volume rose 5% at Suntory Beer and 3.2% at Sapporo Breweries. Asahi Breweries, meanwhile, logged a 10.1% increase in value.
Kirin Brewery posted a drop of 2.5% in volume, affected by a liquor tax increase in autumn 2020 that sapped demand for so-called “third-segment” quasi-beer products.
Total sales in 2023 are expected to shrink around 3%. Japan is scheduled to cut the beer tax and raise the tax for third-segment beer products in October.
“Beer has huge potential,” Kirin Brewery President Hideki Horiguchi said at a news conference. He said Kirin will revamp its flagship Ichibanshibori beer and boost recognition for its Spring Valley beer.
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