2024-08-02 12:35:43
EU Member States in 2023 produced 32.5 billion liters of beer containing alcohol and 1.8 billion liters of beer with less than 0.5 percent alcohol or no alcohol at all, for a total of 34.3 billion liters. This is shown by Eurostat data published today on the occasion of International Beer Day, which is celebrated every first Friday of August.
Compared to 2022, the production of alcoholic beer in the EU has decreased by 5 percent (-1.7 billion liters). As for non-alcoholic beer, there is an increase of 13.5 percent compared to 2022 (+0.2 billion liters). Thus, the total production last year decreased by 1.5 billion liters compared to 2022.
In terms of alcohol beer production, in 2023 Germany continues to be the leading producer with 7.2 billion liters (22.3 percent of total EU production).
Germany is followed by Spain with 4.0 billion liters produced (12.4 percent of the total EU production), Poland with 3.5 billion liters (10.8 percent), the Netherlands with 2.4 billion liters (7, 5 percent) and Belgium with 2.0 billion liters (6.3 percent).
In 2023, according to Eurostat data, 458 million liters of beer were produced in Bulgaria, or nearly 3 percent more than in 2022. Data are provided only for beer containing alcohol. Bulgaria accounts for about 1.4 percent of European production.
Import and export
As in previous years, trade data shows that the Netherlands continues to be the leading exporter of beer containing alcohol in 2023. The country exported a total (in and outside the EU) of 1.8 billion liters of beer containing alcohol in 2023. , accounting for 21.5 percent of the total beer exports of EU countries. Compared to 2022, the Netherlands saw a drop of 0.1 billion liters in beer exports.
The rankings are followed by Germany and Belgium (both export 1.4 billion liters) and the Czech Republic and Ireland (both 0.5 billion liters).
In terms of imports, France remains the largest importer of beer containing alcohol in 2023, with 0.9 billion litres, representing 17.1 percent of total EU imports (intra and non-EU). The other major importers are Italy with over 0.7 billion litres, and Spain, the Netherlands and Germany with almost 0.6 billion litres.
Trading partners
As for the main destinations for beer exports (with alcohol) to non-EU countries, the UK (0.8 billion litres; 22.8 per cent of total non-EU beer exports) and the United States (0.6 billion litres; 16.1 percent) are the main partners, followed by Russia (0.3 billion liters; 8.4 percent), China (0.3 billion liters; 7.3 percent) and Cuba (0.2 billion . liters; 5.2 per cent).
Imports of beers containing alcohol from non-EU countries are negligible compared to EU imports. When importing from outside the EU, EU countries prefer British (0.3 billion litres; 57.6 per cent of all non-EU beer imports in 2023) and Mexican beer (0.1 billion litres; 17.2 per hundred), BTA informs.