German beer sales down 2 percent January to September 2019

Germany | This does not bode well for the rest of the year: From January to September 2019, brewers sold 2 percent or 1.4 million hl less beer than in the corresponding period 2017.

As was reported by the Federal Office of Statistics (Destatis), beer sales in the first nine months of 2019 were around 70 million hl, excluding non-alcoholic beers, malt beer and beer imported from countries outside the European Union.

About 82 percent of total beer sales were destined for domestic consumption and were taxed. Domestic sales fell 2 percent to 58 million hl year-on-year. Beer mixes, that is beer mixed with lemonade, cola, fruit juices and other non-alcoholic beverages, amounted to 3.7 million hl in the first nine months of 2019, accounting for 5.2 percent of total beer sales. Compared to the first nine months of 2018, beer mixes were down 0.2 percent.