Beer sales drop 4.9 percent during the first half of 2013

That’s bad. That’s truly bad. Because of this year’s inordinately long winter and a spring that wasn’t, German brewers sold 4.9 percent less beer during the first six months, compared with the same period last year, the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported on 31 July 2013.

Beer sales stood at 45.9 million hl, excluding alcohol free beer and beer imports from countries outside of the European Union. Beer mixes seem to be in free fall: in the first six months of 2013 only 2.0 million hl of shandies etc were sold, indicating a decline of 13.6 percent over the same period last year.

No one is prepared to make an educated guess on total beer sales for 2013. For the past two decades brewers have learnt to live with annual declines of about 2 percent. However, for 2013 to turn into a “normal year” it all depends on what the weather will be like for the rest of the year.