Beer production back to pre-pandemic level

In 2022, EU countries produced almost 34.3 billion (bn) litres of beer containing alcohol and 1.6 bn litres of beer which contained less than 0.5% alcohol or had no alcohol content at all.

Compared with 2021, the production of beer with alcohol in the EU increased by 7%, returning to levels closer to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, when production was at 34.7 bn litters. When it comes to beer without alcohol, there was no change compared with 2021.

The EU’s total beer (with and without alcohol) production in 2022 was equivalent to almost 80 litres per inhabitant.

Germany continues to be the top beer producer

Among the EU countries with data available, in 2022 Germany continued to be the top producer with 7.6 bn litres (more than 22% of the total EU production). This means that about one in every four beers containing alcohol produced in the EU originated in Germany.

Germany was followed by Spain, with 3.9 bn litres produced (more than 11% of total EU production), Poland with 3.7 bn litres (11%) the Netherlands with 2.6 bn litres (almost 8%) and France and Italy, both with 2.0 billion litres (each 6%).

Source dataset: DS-056120

Top exporter and importer: Netherlands and France, respectively

As in previous years, trade data show that the Netherlands continued to lead as the top exporter of beer containing alcohol in 2022. The Netherlands exported a total (intra- and extra-EU) of 2.6 bn litres of beer containing alcohol in 2022, accounting for 27% of the total EU beer exports. Compared with 2021, this country saw an increase of 0.7 bn litres in beer exports.

The Netherlands was followed by Belgium (1.6 bn litres; 17%), Germany (1.5 bn litres; 16%), Czechia (0.6 bn litres; 6%) and Ireland (0.4 bn litres; 5%).

For imports, there was also no change compared with 2021, as France continued to be the largest importer of beer containing alcohol in 2022, with 0.9 bn litres, representing 17% of EU total (intra- and extra-EU) imports. The other big importers were Italy with more than 0.7 bn litres (14%), Germany with less than 0.7 bn (12%), the Netherlands with 0.6 bn litres (11%) and Spain with 0.5 bn litres (10%).

Source dataset: DS-045409 

Biggest export destination: UK

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

Imports of beers containing alcohol from countries outside the EU are marginal compared to imports within the EU. When importing from non-EU countries, EU countries favoured British beer (290 million litres; 57% of all extra-EU imports of beer in 2022 and Mexican beer (99 million litres; 19% respectively). Serbia (40 million litres; 8%), Ukraine (15 million; 3%) and China (11 million; 2%) followed on the top import partners list but with much smaller values.