Romania: Beer sales volume down 5% in 2023

The volume of beer sales contracted by 5% in 2023 for the second year in a row, reaching 15 million hectolitres, according to data from the Romanian Brewers Association, the Romania Insider reported on April 3.

The Association still doesn’t provide data on specific market segments (such as pale, ale, dark, or stout), most likely because of the dominance of lager (93% of the total, marginally down from 93.5% in 2022).

"The main challenge of the period is the uncertainty regarding the tax regime, especially in the electoral context of this year, and the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine. This will further put pressure on the supply of raw materials and higher costs on the beer production chain,” said Julia Leferman, Director of the Romanian Brewers Association, quoted by Economica.net.

Beer imports totaled, in 2023, 484 thousand hectolitres, decreasing by 240 thousand hectolitres compared to 2022. Exports also showed a downward trend, reaching 422 thousand hectolitres, compared to 520 thousand hectolitres in 2022.

By packaging category, PET-bottled beer marked the steepest decrease compared to 2022 (-2.6%) but still retained the largest share in consumption of 37.4%. However, this (low-cost) segment continues the downward trend it has registered in recent years, dropping from 54% in 2015. In contrast, the sales of can-bottled beer increased to a share of 26.4% in 2023, compared to 24.8% a year earlier, confirming the trend of recent years.

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