World: Emerging markets lead post-pandemic beer market recovery

World beer production varies substantially by region, with Asia leading the way, due mainly to China being the world’s largest beer market. Next comes a cluster of regions from North America, Western and Eastern Europe, and South America, ranging from 12-20% down. Trailing the list are Africa and Australia.

According to RMI Analytics’ latest report, these regions are not homogeneous in terms of volume growth, due to the fundamental structure of each market. Some markets are very mature, with limited long-term growth potential (e.g. Western Europe or Canada and the US) due in large part by the ageing of the population which correlates to a reducing alcohol consumption trend. By comparison, there are regions with major growth prospects (e.g. Africa, Asia, and South America) because of a younger population and wider economic growth potential.

A current production overview provides valuable context when looking at beer volume growth through 2027, by region. The pandemic had varied impacts on beer volume declines in 2020, and a similar varied cumulative rebound through 2027 is occurring across the regions. Within this recovery there is clear proof for the emerging market potential, as Africa, Asia, and South America lead the cumulative growth prospects while mature markets have lower growth recovery numbers, the analysts said.

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