Beer consumption declines 4 percent

Belgium’s beer industry saw its sales volume drop below the level of 9 million hl of beer in 2008. In 1990, the brewers still sold 12 million hl on their domestic market. That’s a decline of more than 30 percent. It is small consolation to Belgian brewers that each year beer exports have compensated the sales losses in Belgium.

What really irks them is that during the same period, sales of wine have risen more than 30 percent. Belgians, on average, now drink about 30 litres of wine annually. And rising.