Germany: Beer sales drop 4.5% in 2023
German beer sales dropped 4.5% last year, resuming a long-term downward trend, official figures showed on February 1, Yahoo Finance reported.
German-based breweries and distributors sold about 8.4 billion litres (2.2 billion gallons) of beer last year, the Federal Statistical Office said. That figure doesn't include non-alcoholic beer and beer imported from outside the European Union.
In 2022, beer sales increased 2.7% thanks to a recovery in demand at home and in the EU following the end of COVID-19 restrictions. But demand in both markets was lower again in 2023.
Sales inside Germany — more than four-fifths of the total — dropped 4.2% to 6.9 billion litres (1.8 billion gallons).
Exports were down 5.9% overall. There was a relatively modest 2.6% drop in sales to other countries in the 27-nation EU, which bought 784 million litres (207 million gallons) of German beer, while sales to other countries were down 9.6% at 646.7 million litres (170.8 million gallons).
German brewers have been struggling with a long-term downward trend fueled by health concerns and other factors. The statistics office said last year's sales were 11.3% lower than in 2013 and 25.3% lower than in 1993.
Torna
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 .
