German beer sales rise 3.8% in first half of 2022

Beer sales in Germany rose 3.8% through the first half of 2022, according to figures published on Monday by the Federal Statistics Agency, Destatis.

Some 4.3 billion liters of beer were consumed in Germany in the first six months of this year — up 157.2 million liters compared with the first half of 2021, when the coronavirus pandemic heavily impacted sales among breweries and beer warehouses in the EU's largest economy.

There was a decline of 3.3%, however, in sales of drinks mixing beer with nonalcoholic beverages such as lemonade, cola or fruit juices.

The figures do not include nonalcoholic beers and malt beverages or beer imported from outside the EU.

Still below pre-pandemic levels

Beer consumption in Germany still has some way to go before it returns to pre-pandemic levels.

When comparing the first half of 2022 with the same period in 2019, data from Destatis showed consumption was down 5.5%, amounting to 253.8 million fewer liters of beer sunk by citizens.

The long-term patterns of beer drinking are much starker, showing a significant drop over the past two decades, with beer sales down by roughly a quarter in 2021 compared to the turn of the century.

jsi/msh (dpa, Reuters)