German beer sales are trending down again

Germany | Beer production declined 2.7 percent during the first six months of 2019, compared with the same period in 2018. German brewers sold around 46 million hl beer in the first half – excluding non-alcoholic beers and malt beverages.

Thanks to an auspicious combo of good weather and the Football World Cup, German brewers ended 2018 with a slight sales increase over 2017. But with no such crowd-pullers scheduled for 2019, German beer consumption is set to continue its steady decline.   

In the first six months of 2019, beer mixes dropped 1.5 percent to 2.2 million hl, or 4.8 percent of total beer sales. Almost 82 percent of total beer sales were destined for domestic consumption and were taxed.

Non-alcoholic beers and non-alcoholic beer mixes, which are not included in the statistics, have picked up volume in recent years, according to the German Brewers Association. They now account for almost seven percent of total sales, which is an increase of 6.5 percent over the first six months 2018. It is assumed that in the near future one out of ten beers brewed in Germany will be non-alcoholic.