EU: Beer production up by 400 mln litres in 2016 - Eurostat

Beer production in E.U. member states has increased substantially. In 2016, the total amounted to 39 billion litres, not counting beer with lower alcohol content or no alcohol, the Sofia Globe reported on August 4.

Compared to 2015, the amount of beer produced in the E.U. increased by 400 million litres. Had all the beer produced in 2016 been evenly distributed among all E.U. inhabitants, including babies and toddlers, everyone would have gotten 76 litres, according to Eurostat.

On top of the real beer, 900 million litres of alcohol-free beer and beer with less than 0.5% alcohol were produced.

Two thirds of all the real beer was produced in six member states. Again, Germany was the top beer producer in 2016, with 8.3 billion litres or more than one fifth of the entire E.U. production.

The United Kingdom was second, with 5.1 billion litres, while Poland came in third with 4 billion litres. Spain was pretty strong too, with 3.7 billion litres. The Netherlands (2.6 billion) and Belgium (2.3 billion) were strong contenders as well.

Regarding beer exports to non-E.U. countries, The Netherlands were victorious. With 1.9 billion litres, they exported more beer than Germany, which for sure has something to do with their Heineken brand.

Another interesting aspect: The European Union imported quite a bit of beer from non-member states. Among those, Mexico won, with nearly 180 million litres.