Switzerland: Beer consumption dropped by 23% during last 15 years

According to a local publication study which tried to explain the vertiginous drop of beer consumption in Switzerland, beer saw its love-quote downgrading since a few years ago despite recent Football World Championship fever and extreme heat, TSR informed August 06.

Local sources said beer consumption dropped 23% from 1990 till 2005, from 71litres per capita annually down to 55 litres.

This “performance” is a very worrying one if it’s referred to similar Czech, German and Austrian figures which rank from 160, 116 and 109 liters respectively on an annual basis.

The key factors which lead to this situation were said to be the anti-alcoholic campaigns and all related Government’s politics which were undertook to this purpose. In addition, there is always a strong competition coming from wine which holds a solid share among domestic drinkers’ preferences.

The conducted study questioned it-self if beer really makes people fat, as the adage says, an admission which negatively reflects itself upon beer consumption. A dietician estimated that reasonable beer drinking doesn’t makes you fat. With only 130 calories for 3 dl of brew, it doesn’t worth more calories than a fruit juice - 120.

The study also unveiled that 83% of consummated beer in Switzerland is of national production, which surely can be seen as a positive aspect. In addition, seasonal figures are rather good. The declining beer consumption however affected less local small local breweries, which are presently doing quite well.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .