World: World hop crop volume down 4% in 2024

The decline of nearly 8 % (-4.630 ha) in world hop acreage and the increase of 4 % in yield per hectare (2023: 1.96 mt / 2024: 2.04 mt) together produced a crop volume that was 4 % lower (-4,622 mt) year on year in 2024, the Barth-Haas Group said in its annual report 2024-25.

Average alpha acid content increased from 10.0 % to 10.5 %, resulting in a year-on-year increase in alpha yield of 1 % (+119 mt).

The proportion of aroma hops in both crop and alpha yield fell, while that of bitter hops increased accordingly.

Germany and the USA accounted for 43 % (2023: 33 %) and 41 % (2023: 48 %), respectively, of alpha production volume worldwide. The combined share of the two countries amounts to 84 % (2023: 81 %). In the aroma category, the USA saw its share fall to 57 % (2023: 60 %), while Germany’s rose to 21 % (2023: 17 %). Germany’s share of alpha volume from bitter varieties was 56 % (2023: 46 %), with the USA accounting for 31 % (2023: 38 %).

Sector concentration also continued in 2024 as part of the structural change. In Germany, a further 31 hop growers discontinued production. The average planted acreage of the remaining 1,009 farms rose by 0.3 hectares to 20.1 hectares in crop year 2024.

However, that does not mark the end of the change process: “The market remains structurally oversupplied and the hop industry is struggling to cope with surpluses that have largely been forward-contracted, but have not been used,” explains Heinrich Meier, author of the BarthHaas Report. “Further acreage reduction is therefore essential if the market is to return to equilibrium.”

The declining demand for hops can be explained by changes in the beer market worldwide: “The trend toward mainstream beers and alcohol-free and low-alcohol variants continued in 2024 and in fact gained further momentum,” explains Thomas Raiser, Managing Director of BarthHaas. “These beers are generally more lightly hopped.”

A decline in hop dosage can be seen even in the craft beer segment – due on the one hand to the increasing use of efficient hop products and on the other to a change toward traditional bottom-fermented beer styles requiring more moderate hop addition.

Aside from the changing trends, other factors are contributing to the fall in hop demand particularly in the traditional beer nations among the western industrialized countries. These include aging populations, competition from a considerably greater variety of beverages, and not least a decline in purchasing power in economically difficult times.