Belgium: Belgium becomes world’s leading exporter of beer in 2018

For Belgian brewers, 2018 was a year with two faces. On the one hand, domestic consumption was virtually unchanged for the first time in years, while on the other, exports continued to perform well. These increased by 2.2%, the Belgian Brewers association said in its annual report.

The beer volume on the Belgian market remained stable in 2018 thanks to a good summer and the football World Cup. However, the situation in the hotels and catering sector remained difficult, the association said.

In 2018, the market share of lager beers was 72%, while speciality beers accounted for 28%. Sales of alcohol-free and low-alcohol beers increased significantly: in 2018, this segment’s share was about 5%, which is an increase of 20% compared to 2017.

Belgian beer exports increased by 2.2% in 2018. Exports within the EU increased by 5.5%, but exports to non-EU countries decreased slightly by about 3.8%. This is mainly due to more difficult markets in the United States and China. Impending trade wars also put a damper on exports. However, despite a somewhat more difficult economic climate, the volume of Belgian beer exports exceeded that of German and Dutch beers for the first time.

In addition to this, local breweries invested a record 251 million euro. The number of breweries also increased from 261 to 304, which proves how dynamic the Belgian brewery sector is.

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