Belgium: Beer exports increase by 9.2% last year

2019 was a positive year for Belgian brewers with a slight increase in total beer sales in the internal market of 0.2% compared to a balanced year in 2018, Brasseurs Belges said in its annual report.

The trade association notes a slight decrease in the consumption of lager for the benefit of specialty beers. In 2019, beer sales in retail fell by 0.6%, while sales in the hotel and catering industry increased slightly by 1.3% after a continuous decline over the past 10 years.

Belgian beer exports increased by 9.2% last year with an increase of more than 14% in the EU and a small decline of 2% outside the EU.

In 2019, Belgian brewers invested more than 332 million euro, an increase of 31.9 % compared to 2018.

The number of breweries increased from 261 to 304.

The start of 2020 is strongly characterized by the epidemic of Covid 19. Belgian beer volumes in the local market for the period from March to May decreased by approximately 40%. The overall impact for 2020 is difficult to estimate at this stage, but it is clear that the decline in volumes and sales will be unprecedented since World War II, the association said.