Thursday, August 5th, 2021
Far ahead of second place
Germany brews most of the beer in the EU
Germany – the country of beer drinkers and brewers: Around every fourth beer produced in the EU is made here, clearly number one. Of the 7.5 billion liters of alcoholic beer, little is exported and a lot is drunk domestically. Beer producer Poland is far behind with 3.8 billion liters.
Around every fourth beer produced in the EU is brewed in Germany. In 2020 laut of the European statistical agency Eurostat almost 32 billion liters of alcoholic beer are produced in the EU. 24 percent of it – or 7.5 billion liters – were produced in Germany. According to the official data, this makes Germany the largest beer producer in the EU. Poland ranks second with 3.8 billion liters of beer, followed by Spain and the Netherlands.
Compared to 2019, however, eight percent less alcoholic beer was brewed in the EU last year, Eurostat said. The biggest losses were in Italy, where beer production almost halved. The production of non-alcoholic beer in the EU again remained stable.
However, Belgium, among others, has not released its current beer production figures. The last figures available via Eurostat are from 2017. At that time, Belgium, with around 2.4 billion liters, was sixth in the EU rankings behind the Netherlands.
Little beer export from Germany
Germany exported comparatively little beer. The largest beer exporter was the Netherlands with 1.9 billion liters – 21 percent of all exports to EU countries and third countries. Belgium came in second with 1.7 billion liters, followed by Germany with 1.5 billion liters. Most of the beer was sold to other EU countries – outside of the EU mainly to the USA and Great Britain.
After all, 8 of the 40 largest breweries in the world come from Germany. There are more than 1500 breweries with up to 6000 different brands in total in this country. However, when it comes to per capita consumption, the tide turns: With 142 liters, the Czechs were ahead of the Austrians with 107 liters in 2019. Every German drank 100 liters on average: third place. On the other hand, Italians, French and Greeks rank far behind.
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