EU: 34.3 bln litres of beer produced in the EU last year

In 2023, EU countries produced 32.5 billion (bn) litres of beer containing alcohol and 1.8 bn litres of beer with less than 0.5% alcohol or with no alcohol content at all, totalling 34.3 bn litres, European Commission reported on August 2, to mark International Beer Day, celebrated each year on the first Friday of August.

Compared with 2022, the production of beer with alcohol in the EU decreased by 5% (-1.7 bn litres). When it comes to beer without alcohol, there was an increase of 13.5% compared with 2022 (+0.2 bn litres).

Concerning the production of beer with alcohol, in 2023, Germany continued to be the top producer with 7.2 bn litres (22.3% of the total EU production).

Germany was followed by Spain, with 4.0 bn litres produced (12.4% of total EU production), Poland with 3.5 bn litres (10.8%), the Netherlands with 2.4 bn litres (7.5%) and Belgium with 2.0 bn litres (6.3%).

As in previous years, trade data show that the Netherlands continued to lead as the top exporter of beer containing alcohol in 2023. The Netherlands exported a total (intra- and extra-EU) of 1.8 bn litres of beer containing alcohol in 2023, accounting for 21.5% of the total EU countries’ beer exports. Compared with 2022, this EU country saw a decrease of 0.1 bn litres in beer exports.

The Netherlands was followed by Germany and Belgium (both exporting 1.4 bn litres), Czechia and Ireland (both 0.5 bn litres).

For imports, France continued to be the largest importer of beer containing alcohol in 2023, with 0.9 bn litres, representing 17.1% of EU total (intra- and extra-EU) imports. The other big importers were Italy with more than 0.7 bn litres, and Spain, the Netherlands and Germany each with almost 0.6 bn litres.

When it comes to main destinations for beer (with alcohol) exports to non-EU countries, the United Kingdom (0.8 bn litres; 22.8% of total extra-EU beer exports) and the United States (0.6 bn litres; 16.1%) were the main partners, followed by Russia (0.3 bn litres; 8.4%), China (0.3 bn litres; 7.3%), and Cuba (0.2 bn litres; 5.2%).

Imports of beers containing alcohol from countries outside the EU are marginal compared to imports within the EU. When importing from non-EU countries, EU countries favoured British beer (0.3 bn litres; 57.6% of all extra-EU imports of beer in 2023 and Mexican beer (0.1 bn litres; 17.2%).

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