EU countries produced 34.3 billion litres of beer in 2023, including 1.8 billion litres containing less than 0.5% or no alcohol, according to the latest data from Eurostat.
Beer production in the EU fell by 5%, or 1.7 billion litres, compared to 2023, data showed.
The production of non-alcoholic beer increased by 13.5% year on year, or 0.2 billion litres.
Germany retained its spot as the leading producer of alcoholic beer in the EU with 7.2 billion litres, accounting for 22.3% of the total EU production.
Spain emerged second with 4.0 billion litres, (12.4% of total EU production), followed by Poland at 3.5 billion litres (10.8%), the Netherlands at 2.4 billion litres (7.5%), and Belgium at 2.0 billion litres (6.3%).
Top Exporters, Importers
In 2023, the Netherlands was the EU's top alcoholic beer exporter at 1.8 billion litres, accounting for 21.5% of the total beer exports from EU countries.
However, the export volume marks a decrease of 0.1 billion litres in beer exports compared to 2022.
The Netherlands was followed by Germany and Belgium (both exporting 1.4 billion litres), Czechia and Ireland (both exporting 0.5 billion litres).
France was the top importer of alcoholic beer at 0.9 billion litres, representing 17.1% of EU total (intra- and extra-EU) imports.
Other big importers were Italy at more than 0.7 billion litres, and Spain, the Netherlands and Germany each importing approximately 0.6 billion litres.
Other Findings
The UK emerged as the leading destination for EU alcoholic beer exports at 0.8 billion litres, or 22.8% of total extra-EU beer export.
It was followed by the United States at 0.6 billion litres, followed by Russia at 0.3 billion litres, China at 0.3 billion litres, and Cuba at 0.2 billion litres.
Eurostat noted that the imports of beers containing alcohol from countries outside the EU were marginal compared to imports within the EU.
EU countries favoured British and Mexican beer in 2023 from non-EU destinations, importing 0.3 billion litres and 0.1 billion litres, respectively.
