Beer production in the EU
In 2023, countries The EU produced 32.5 billion (billion) liters of beer containing alcohol and 1.8 billion litres of beer containing less than 0.5 percent alcohol, for a total of 34.3 billion litres.
Compared to 2022, the production of beer with alcohol in the EU decreased by 5% (-1.7 billion liters). In terms of non-alcoholic beer, there was an increase of 13.5% compared to 2022 (+0.2 billion liters).
Who produced the most?
When it comes to the production of beer with alcohol, in 2023 Germany was still the largest producer of 7.2 billion litres (22.3% of total EU production).
In second place was Spain with production of 4.0 billion liters (12.4% of total EU production), Poland with 3.5 billion liters (10.8%), The Netherlands with 2.4 billion liters (7.5%) and Belgium with 2.0 billion liters (6.3%).
The largest exporters of beer
Eurostat reports that, as in previous years, trade data shows that the Netherlands continued to lead as the largest exporter of beer containing alcohol in 2023. The Netherlands exported a total (inside and outside the EU) of 1.8 billion litres of beer containing alcohol in 2023, which is 21.5% of the EU’s total beer exports. Compared to 2022, the EU country saw a decrease in beer exports of 0.1 billion litres.
Behind the Netherlands were Germany and Belgium (both exporting 1.4 billion litres), the Czech Republic and Ireland (both 0.5 billion litres).
In terms of imports, France continued to be the largest importer of beer containing alcohol in 2023, with 0.9 billion litres, which represented 17.1% of total EU imports (intra- and extra-EU). Other large importers were Italy, with over 0.7 billion litres, and Spain, the Netherlands and Germany, with almost 0.6 billion litres.
Who buys beer from the EU?
In terms of the main export destinations of beer (with alcohol) to non-EU countries, the main partners were: the United Kingdom (0.8 billion litres; 22.8% of total beer exports outside the EU) and the United States (0.6 billion litres; 16.1%), followed by Russia (0.3 billion litres; 8.4%), China (0.3 billion litres; 7.3%) and Cuba (0.2 billion litres; 5.2%).
Imports of beer containing alcohol from non-EU countries are marginal compared to imports within the EU. When importing from non-EU countries, EU countries preferred British beer (0.3 billion liters; 57.6 percent of all beer imports outside the EU in 2023) and Mexican beer (0.1 billion liters; 17.2 percent). (PAP Biznes)
