In recent years, Germans have been drinking less and less beer – but in 2022 it was different. There was more tapping and toasting again. And no, that had nothing to do with the World Cup.
Breweries and beer warehouses based in Germany increased their sales in 2022 by 2.7 percent year-on-year. They sold around 8.8 billion liters of beer, according to the Federal Statistical Office. This does not include non-alcoholic beers, malt drinks or imported beers from outside the EU. Domestic sales were five percent lower than in 2019 before the corona pandemic.
According to the statisticians, 7.2 billion liters – 82.5 percent of total sales – were intended for domestic consumption. That is four percent more than in 2021. 805 million liters were exported to other EU countries – an increase of 7.8 percent. Exports to third countries fell by 12.4 percent to 716 million liters. In addition, 11.3 million liters were given free as house drinks to the employees of the breweries.
In the course of the year, beer sales rose significantly in spring and summer and then fell again. “Large events such as the soccer world championships have usually caused more sales in the summer in recent years,” said the Federal Office. “Such an effect was largely absent during the tournament in Qatar in winter 2022.”
According to the German Brewers’ Association (DBB), Pils is the most popular type of beer with a market share of 50 percent. “In 2022, light beers and lager beers and, according to initial estimates, non-alcoholic beers also recorded growth,” explained the DBB.
Beer mixes with lemonade, cola and others accounted for 5.1 percent of beer sales, according to the statistics office. Sales of these beverages increased slightly by 0.5 percent. In the long term, beer consumption in Germany has been steadily declining for a long time.
DBB Managing Director Holger Eichele warned that 2023 would be an “extremely difficult year” for the industry. She is only slowly recovering from the corona pandemic, when sales plummeted. Now there would be enormous cost pressure. “We have to expect that the costs will remain at a high level in 2023 and in some cases will continue to rise,” explained Eichele. “Numerous breweries in Germany have already announced price increases for this year.”
