World Beer Production: Analysts Plato estimate the world beer production at 1.471 billion hl in 2003, a plus of 19,6 % from 1995. Their forecast puts the production of 2015 at 1.917 billion hl, up by another 30,3 %. Another analyst, Ernst & Young, estimates the German beer production in 2015 to be 79 million hl, down 25 % from 2003. We have seen in the past 30-40 years that beer consumption and production forecasts, whether positive or negative, were more often wrong than right. Present malt production in the world is 19.6 million tonnes, which would correspond to a usage of 13.3 Kilos of malt per hl of beer. If Plato’s trend materialized and the malt usage in beer remained 13.3 Kilos/HL, we would need 6 million tonnes more malt in 2015. A pleasant thought, however, a hypothetical one, analysts said.