July brought some relief to anguished brewers

Good summer weather during the month of July 2013 has brightened up the mood amongst German brewers. Compared with the previous month, beer sales rose 11.9 percent.

But during the January-to-July period, beer sales still declined 2.2 percent over the same period 2012.

It’s too early to say if this will be an average year – with declines of around 2 percent – or a rogue year, statistically speaking.

According to figures released by the German Brewers’ Association, Germans on average drank 107.3 litres of beer in 2012 (2 litres less than 2011), 20.8 litres of wine (-0.2 litres), 4.2 litres of sparkling wine (no decline here) and 5.5 litres of spirits (flat).

Consumption of mineral water stood at 143.4 litres as in the previous year, while fruit juices saw a decline of 1.0 litres to 33.8 litres per capita. Consumption of soft drinks rose 1.4 litres to 123.9 litres per capita. Coffee remains the national drink of choice: hot drinks rose to 317.5 litres (+ 2.7 litres).

All in all, per capita consumption of beverages was 756.4 litres in 2012, up 0.4 litre over 2011.