Beer sales in Germany declined 4.5%, or by 394.2 million litres, in 2023 compared to the previous year.
In this period, breweries and beer warehouses based in Germany sold a total of around 8.4 billion litres of beer, according to the latest data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
The data does not include non-alcoholic beers and malt drinks as well as beer imported from countries outside the European Union (EU).
After a slight increase of 2.7% in 2022, the trend of declining sales continued in the country.
Annual beer sales in Germany declined 11.5% compared to 2013 (9.5 billion litres), and was 25.3% lower than in 1993 (11.2 billion litres).
Monthly beer sales figures during the year showed a seasonal pattern, as sales rose significantly in the spring and summer months, and fell in the fall and winter.
Other Observations
Domestic beer sales fell by 4.2% to 6.9 billion litres compared to 2022.
In 2023, tax-free beer exports reached 1.4 billion litres, which is 5.9% lower compared to the figures in 2022.
Of this, 784.0 million litres (-2.6%) went to EU countries, and 646.7 million litres ( -9.6%) were shipped to non-EU destinations.
Breweries distributed 11.3 million litres (+1.2%) to their employees, free of charge, as house drinks.
Beer mixes – beer mixed with lemonade, cola, fruit juices and other non-alcoholic additives – also saw a decline in sales in 2023.
Beer blend sales declined 9.2% year on year to 403.0 million litres, accounting for 4.8% of total beer sales.
Recent years have seen a surge of interest in the non-alcoholic drinks sector.
Studies show that the low- or non-alcoholic drinks markets have been steadily growing for several years – interest in this segment grew by 9% in 2022 and is projected to accelerate as time goes on.
