Latvia: Beer output, consumption and exports decline in 2012

Latvia’s brewing industry produced 1.405 mln hl of beer in 2012, 8.3% less than in the previous year, BNS reported on February, 19.

Fifteen more small-scale craft breweries were launched in the country last year. According to official statistics, 0.18 mln hl of beer brewed by small- and medium-scale craft breweries accounted for 13% of the total volume brewed in Latvia in 2012.

Latvian beer exports totalled 0.34 mln hl last year, having declined by 2.9% vs. 2011. The nation’s beer is mostly exported to other EU nations, with Estonia and Lithuania accounting for 88% of the total volume exported.

Import of beer increased by 7.6% to 0.48 mln hl. The nation’s total beer consumption declined by 5.2% to 1.54 mln hl last year.