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EU countries produce less beer in 2023
Last year countries from the European Union (EU) produced some 32.5 billion litres of beer which contained alcohol and another 1.8 billion litres of low- and no-alcohol beer, data has shown.
In total, the bloc produced some 34.3 billion litres of beer. But when compared to 2022, the total amount was down by around 5% or 1.7 billion litres.
Yet when considering low-alcohol or 0.5% and below ABV beer, there was an increase of 13.5% on 2022 levels — or a rise of 0.2 billion litres — illustrating the continued impressive growth of the low- and no-alcohol beer category across Europe.
In terms of specific countries, Germany continued to be the top producer with 7.2 billion litres of beer, which was around a quarter (22.3%) of the total EU production.
It was followed by Spain, which produced around 4 billion litres of beer, or around 12.4% of the bloc’s output. This was followed by Poland on 3.5 billion litres or 10% of production, the Netherlands on 7.5% or 2.4 billion litres and Belgium, famous for its Trappist ales, on 2 billion litres or 6.3%.
Data also revealed that the Netherlands was still the top exporter of beer which contained alcohol last year with a total of 1.8 billion litres of beer being exported, which accounted for around a fifth (21.5%) of the total EU beer exports. When compared to 2022 levels though, it saw a decline of around 0.1 billion litres though.
Behind the Netherlands, Germany exported 1.4 bn litres and Czechia and Ireland both exported 0.5 billion litres.
In terms of imports, France is the largest at 0.9 billion litres, which is just under a fifth of the total at 17.1%, with Italy also importing 0.7 billion litres and Germany, the Netherlands and Spain also importing 0.6 billion.
The main destination for beer exports that contain alcohol are the bloc’s former member, the United Kingdom, which gets around 22.8% or 0.8 billion litres, and also the United States, which receives 0.6 billion litres or 16.1%.
In addition, Russia also received 0.33 billion litres of beer from the EU last year, and China got 0.3 billion and Cuba had 0.2 billion litres.
Imports of beer from countries outside of the EU were low with the biggest proportion coming from the UK, with British beer being 0.3 billion litres and Mexican beer being 0.1 billion litres.
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