Eurostat has published a survey on the production, export, import and consumption of beer in 2020 in the EU. In the years behind us, in which life and habits changed in a flash, the statistics in the brewing industry also changed. The research showed that Germany is the largest producer of beer in the EU, the Netherlands the largest exporter, France the largest importer, and that the largest growth in production was recorded in Slovakia, and the largest decline in Italy.
Compared to 2019, beer production in the EU decreased by eight percent, while the production of non-alcoholic beer remained stable. Total beer production in the EU in 2020 was 74 liters per capita. During 2020, the EU produced about 32 billion liters of beer containing alcohol, as well as 1.4 billion liters of beer whose percentage of alcohol is less than 0.5% or does not contain it at all.
Germany the largest brewer manufacturer in 2020
In 2020, Germany was the largest beer producer in the EU, with 7.5 billion liters produced. One in four beers containing alcohol, 24% of total EU production, was produced by breweries in Germany. Germany is followed by Poland with 3.8 billion liters of beer produced (12% of total EU production), Spain (3.3 billion liters or 10% of EU production), the Netherlands (2.5 billion liters or 8%), France ( 2.1 billion liters, or 7%), the Czech Republic (1.8 billion liters, or 6%) and Romania (1.7 billion liters, or 5%).
Slovakia records the biggest growth in beer production, and Italy the biggest decrease in 2020
Compared to 2019, Slovakia in 2020 recorded the largest growth in the production of beer containing alcohol, with an increase in production of 25%. Production growth was also recorded in Greece, Lithuania and France, but amounted to only 3%. The largest decline in beer production was recorded in Italy and amounted to 46%, and this trend was also recorded in Croatia with 29%, Spain 14%, Hungary 13%, as well as in Austria with 11%.
Netherlands largest beer exporter in 2020
The largest exporter of beer in 2020 was the Netherlands. As much as 1.9 billion liters of beer containing alcohol, which makes 21% of the total export of beer from the EU, the Netherlands exported to the territory of the EU and outside the borders of the Union. It is followed by Belgium (1.7 billion liters; 19% of total exports), Germany (1.5 billion liters; 17%), followed by France and the Czech Republic (both 0.5 billion liters; or 6% of exports) and Ireland and Poland (both 0.4 billion liters each, or 5% of total beer exports). Beer from EU producers, except in the territory of the Union, was mostly exported to the United States (895 million liters; 22% of total beer exports outside the EU) and the United Kingdom (881 million liters; 21%).
France the largest importer of beer in 2020
In 2020, France imported as much as 0.8 billion liters of beer, or 16% of total EU imports (inside and outside the EU). Germany imported 0.7 billion liters (13%), followed by Italy (0.6 billion liters; 12%), the Netherlands (0.6 billion liters; 11%) and Spain (0.5 billion liters; 10%).
Prilikom uvoza iz zemalja koje nisu članice EU, države članice favorizovale su britansko pivo (268 miliona litara; 51% uWhen imported from non-EU countries, member states favored British beer (268 million liters; 51% of total non-EU beer imports in 2020), as well as Mexican beer (95 million liters; 18%).
Beer production and consumption in Serbia in 2020
In 2020, over 5.1 million hectoliters of beer were produced in Serbia. Exports, directed to the countries of the region but also to the EU members, amounted to more than 1.4 million hl, while imports amounted to more than 380,000 hl (the largest share from EU countries).
Due to the pandemic, the year 2020 brought, justifiably, a restriction on the work of catering facilities, as well as a ban on organizing music and other events, which was certainly a big blow to the industry. These are the key factors that influenced the drastic decline of the industry during 2020, which continued during the first half of 2021. Viewed through the figures, compared to 2019, the beer sector in 2020 recorded a decline of 7.19%, a decline in exports of 10.05%, a drop in beer consumption of 5.55%, which resulted in a decrease in total government revenue from the beer sector by as much as 15.49%.
These data are a clear indicator of how the Serbian beer market has reacted to global changes and the COVID-19 virus pandemic. Due to the pandemic, beer consumption in Serbia dropped to 62 liters per capita in 2020, so that consumption is below the European average. When it comes to beer exports, Serbia is one of the largest exporters of beer to EU member states, after Great Britain and Mexico.
More information covered by this research can be found at https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/edn-20210805-1 where data on consumption habits can also be found alcohol, which varies greatly from country to country, habits in relation to gender and age structure.
