Germany: First-half beer sales decline by about 2.7%

German breweries and beer warehouses recorded a decline in beer sales by 2.7 percent to about 4.6 billion litres in the first half of 2019 compared to the previous year, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on August 1.

Although the majority of beer sales were for German domestic consumption, domestic sales had fallen by 2.7 percent in the first six months of 2019 to 3.7 billion litres compared to the first half of the previous year, according to Destatis.

The various beer blends accounted for almost 5 percent of the total German beer sales volume, Destatis announced. Compared to the previous year, 1.5 percent fewer mixtures of beer and lemonade, cola or fruit juices were sold.

The German statistical office noted that the figures did not include non-alcoholic beers and malt beverages or beer imported from countries outside the European Union (EU).

German breweries sold 446.3 million litres of beer to EU countries in the first half of the year, which was a decline of 6.1 percent compared to the same period the previous year, according to the figures.

Meanwhile, German beer sales to non-EU countries rose slightly by 1.7 percent to 386.6 million litres.

The association of German brewers attributed the decline in sales to the cooler weather in the month of May and the comparatively high beer sales in June last year on the occasion of the start of the football World Cup.

The results were thus "somewhat sobering, but by no means surprising," and German breweries were now hoping for a sunny summer, a mild autumn and Christmas and New Year's Eve business, said Holger Eichele, managing director of the association of German brewers.

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