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August 3, 2023
In 2022, EU countries produced almost 34.3 billion (bn) litres of beer containing alcohol and 1.6 bn litres of beer which contained less than 0.5% alcohol or had no alcohol content at all.
Beer EU 1 gen
Compared with 2021, the production of beer with alcohol in the EU increased by 7%, returning to levels closer to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, when production was at 34.7 bn litters. When it comes to beer without alcohol, there was no change compared with 2021.
The EU’s total beer (with and without alcohol) production in 2022 was equivalent to almost 80 litres per inhabitant.
Germany continues to be the top beer producer
Among the EU countries with data available, in 2022 Germany continued to be the top producer with 7.6 billion litres (more than 22 % of the total EU production). This means that about one in every four beers containing alcohol produced in the EU originated in Germany.
Germany was followed by Spain, with 3.9 billion litres produced (more than 11 % of total EU production), Poland with 3.7 billion litres (11 %) the Netherlands with 2.6 billion litres (almost 8 %) and France and Italy, both with 2.0 billion litres (each 6 %).
Beer EU 2
Top exporter and importer: Netherlands and France, respectively
As in previous years, trade data show that the Netherlands continued to lead as the top exporter of beer containing alcohol in 2022. The Netherlands exported a total (intra- and extra-EU) of 2.6 bn litres of beer containing alcohol in 2022, accounting for 27 % of the total EU beer exports. Compared with 2021, this country saw an increase of 0.7 billion litres in beer exports.
The Netherlands was followed by Belgium (1.6 billion litres; 17 %), Germany (1.5 billion litres; 16 %), Czechia (0.6 billion litres; 6 %) and Ireland (0.4 bn litres; 5 %).
For imports, there was also no change compared with 2021, as France continued to be the largest importer of beer containing alcohol in 2022, with 0.9 billion litres, representing 17 % of EU total (intra- and extra-EU) imports. The other big importers were Italy with more than 0.7 billion litres (14 %), Germany with less than 0.7 billion (12 %), the Netherlands with 0.6 billion litres (11 %) and Spain with 0.5 billion litres (10 %).
