Germany, Spain, and Poland Lead Beer Production in Europe

The total beer production (with and without alcohol) in the EU for the past year amounted to almost 80 litres per capita. Overall, the European Union produced 343 million hectolitres of beer containing alcohol last year, approaching pre-COVID levels when production reached 347 million hectolitres in 2019, according to Eurostat.

According to data published by the European Statistical Office on Thursday, the volumes of non-alcoholic beer remained stable and accounted for 5% of the total volume.

Germany continues to be the leader in beer production among EU countries in 2022, producing 7.6 billion litres of beer, accounting for over 22% of the EU's total production. This means that approximately one in every four beers containing alcohol produced in the EU comes from Germany.

Spain ranks second with a production of 3.9 billion litres of beer, making up over 11% of the EU's total production.

Poland completes the top three leaders with 3.7 billion litres and an 11% share in the EU.

Next on the list are the Netherlands with 2.6 billion litres (nearly 8%), followed by France and Italy with 2.0 billion litres each (6% each).

The largest exporters and importers are the Netherlands and France, respectively.

In 2022, the Netherlands exported (within and outside the EU) 2.6 billion litres of beer containing alcohol, accounting for 27% of the EU's total beer exports. Compared to 2021, beer exports from this country increased by 0.7 billion litres.

Following the Netherlands are Belgium (1.6 billion litres; 17%), Germany (1.5 billion litres; 16%), the Czech Republic (0.6 billion litres; 6%), and Ireland (0.4 billion litres; 5%).

Regarding imports, there were no changes compared to 2021, as France remained the largest beer importer containing alcohol in 2022 with 0.9 billion litres, accounting for 17% of the EU's total imports (within and outside the EU).

Other major importers were Italy with over 0.7 billion litres (14%), Germany with just under 0.7 billion litres (12%), the Netherlands with 0.6 billion litres (11%), and Spain with 0.5 billion litres (10%).

As for the main destinations for beer exports to non-EU countries, the main consumers were the United Kingdom (860 million litres; 21% of total beer exports outside the EU) and the United States (716 million litres; 18%). They were followed by China (349 million litres; 9%), Russia (271 million litres; 7%), and Canada (155 million litres; 4%).