Germans still top the beer drinking table

Germans drink the most beer per head of any major economy in the world, although their consumption is falling rapidly, research has shown.

Germans drank 33% more beer than British people in 2014 (Photo: Wiki)

The average German drank 114 litres of beer in 2014, which is four times the global average and considerably more than the US and UK average of 77 and 74 litres respectively.

For every two litres of beer a British person had last year, a German had three, the research from Euromonitor International shows.

However, evidence points to this rate of consumption falling sharply in the coming years. By 2019, per capita beer consumption will be down to 106 litres, Euromonitor predicts.

“One factor weighing down beer sales is increasing health awareness among consumers, primarily in the context of a rapidly ageing population”, said Wiebke Schoon, food and nutrition analyst at Euromonitor.

“Consequently, it is not surprising that non/low alcohol beer has shown the strongest growth both in volume and value in recent years,” she said.

Non/low alcohol beer was worth €1.06 billion (£78m) in Germany in 2014. Manufacturers will “most likely invest in this high growth area”, said Ms Schoon, with “interesting new product launches” expected over the coming years.

The trend towards craft beer and drinking premium brands in smaller volumes is also playing its part, she said.

“Many young people are moving away from mainstream beer and towards other – in their opinion more fashionable or sophisticated – beverages.

“Craft beer could hold an answer to this; albeit coming from a very small base, it has become a visible trend in Germany recently.”