Alcoholic Beverages (Global Market)
Main article: Alcoholic beverages (global market)
Beer market in Russia
Main article: Beer (Russian market)
2025: Gadolinium found in Hoegaarden, Budweiser, Heineken and Kronenbourg beer
At the end of August 2025, it became known that gadolinium was found in common beer brands, including Hoegaarden, Budweiser, Heineken and Kronenbourg. In addition, this rare earth metal has been identified in some energy drinks. Read more here
2024
Russia ahead of Germany in beer production
Russia ranked fifth in the world ranking of beer producers, displacing Germany from this position, which was traditionally considered one of the leaders in the brewing industry. According to the results of 2024, Russian manufacturers increased the production of foam drink by 9% and reached a volume of 9.1 billion liters, while German breweries reduced production by 1% to 8.4 billion liters. The data is contained in the annual report of the largest German hop producer BarthHaas, published on July 22, 2025.
According to RIA Novosti, five years ago, Germany's gap from Russia in beer production was 1.4 billion liters. The change in positions in the ranking reflects the dramatic transformation of the global brewing market in a relatively short period.
Global leadership in beer production continues to hold China with 34 billion liters. The second place is occupied by the United States with a production volume of 18 billion liters. The top three are closed by Brazil and Mexico with indicators of 14.7 and 14.5 billion liters, respectively.
Global beer production declined to 187.5 billion litres in 2024, showing negative trends in the industry. Production cuts have affected many traditional brewing regions, including European countries.
Many small German breweries are experiencing severe financial difficulties. Beer consumption in Western countries is declining due to a decline in the purchasing power of the population and increased competition with alternative drinks. These factors negatively affect the development of the traditional German brewing industry.
The increase in beer production in Russia is due to the import substitution strategy and the development of its own production facilities. Russian brewers are actively increasing production, compensating for the reduction in the volume of imports of foreign beer.
Paradoxically, it was Germany that in May 2025 again became the main supplier of beer from the European Union to the Russian market. This was due to a sharp reduction in exports from the Czech Republic by 28%. The cost of German supplies amounted to €1.6 million.[1]
Reduction in beer production in the world by 0.6% to 1.64 billion hectoliters
In 2024, approximately 1.64 billion hectoliters (hl) of beer were produced worldwide, down 0.6% from the previous year. Such data are provided in a report by BarthHaas, published in mid-June 2025.
The first eleven places in the ranking remained unchanged compared to 2023. AB InBev (495.5 million gl), Heineken (240.7 million gl) and China Res are leading. Snow Breweries (108.8 million gl). Together, the three companies produced more than half of the world's beer volume (based on an estimate by the top 40 brewing companies). However, all listed manufacturers showed negative annual dynamics: AB InBev fell 2.1%, Heineken - 0.8%, China Res. Snow Breweries — 2,4%.
In 12th place on the list was a brewing company, Baltika which had previously participated in the ranking as part. Carlsberg Group Its production volume in 2024 amounted to 23.6 million hectares, which is 15.7% more than in 2023, when Baltika sold 20.4 million hectares. Another Russian manufacturer was included in the list - ("United Breweries" OPH United Breweries), which separated from Heineken: the company took 24th line with 9.5 million gl and a 3.1% drop in production compared to 2023. The list of the first 10 largest brewing companies is as follows:
- AB InBev - 495.49 hl (minus 2.1%);
- Heineken - 240.7 hl (minus 0.8%);
- China Res. Snow Breweries - 108.8 million gl (minus 2.4%);
- Carlsberg - 101.2 million gl (plus 0.2%);
- Molson Coors - 79.62 million gl (minus 5%);
- Tsingtao Brewery Group - 75.38 million gl (plus 1.7%);
- Asahi Group - 65 million gl (unchanged);
- BGI/Groupe Castel - 44 million gl (plus 3%);
- Yanjing - 40 million gl (plus 1.5%);
- Efes Group - 38.7 million gl (plus 8.4%).[2]
2023: Top 10 Beer Countries
In 2023, global beer production amounted to 1.88 billion gl, which is 0.9% less than in 2022. This is evidenced by the data of Barth Haas, which TAdviser got acquainted with in March 2025.
According to experts, this decline was unexpected, especially after a slight increase in 2022. Peter Hintermeier, managing director of Barth Haas, noted that expectations for more production were not met.
China remains the leader in beer production, which in 2024 produced 359.1 million ch. The top three also included the United States and Brazil. In China, production declined slightly, in the United States - significantly, and in Brazil and Mexico there was a slight increase.
In Europe, beer production in 2024 decreased by 9 million gl due to a decrease in production in Britain, Germany and Poland. In North America, production decreased by 7.2 million gl, including due to the United States
In Asia, there was a mixed picture: growth in India and Cambodia, but a drop in Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, China and Kazakhstan. In Africa, production grew by 4.6 million hl thanks to Ethiopia and Cameroon.
Beer production has declined in both the mass brewing segment and craft breweries, the study said. However, the decline in volumes in the craft beer sector was less significant. As a result, the demand for hops also decreased, decreasing in 2024 by 2.5% to 10,899 metric tons.
These changes came amid a global decline in hop crop areas. A particularly marked decline occurred in the US, where acreage decreased by 2,213 hectares. At the same time, hop yield increased, and the average level of alpha acids was 10%, which is close to the indicators of 2022.Barth Haas Report 2023/2024
2022
Cities of the world with the most expensive and cheapest beer
The largest countries in terms of beer production
2021
The largest countries in terms of beer consumption
The world's largest brewing companies
2020: Global beer market declined 6.8% to 187.69 million kiloliters
The volume of the global beer market at the end of 2020 reached 187.69 million kiloliters, which is 6.8% less than in 2019. Such data in August 2021 Euromonitor International UK presented in an analytical company.
The largest beer producer for 2020 is the Belgian company Anheiser Bush InBev, which accounted for 26.5% of the market, which is 0.6 percentage points more compared to 2019. In second place is Heineken, which is quite far behind the leader with a share of 10.9% (-0.2 pp by 2019).
It entered the top 3 brewing companies in terms of production, Carlsberg which ended 2020 with a result of 6.1%. Next are Huajun Beer () China and Molson Coors USA (), whose shares at the end of 2020 were equal to 5.7% and 4.5%, respectively.
The fall of the beer market in 2020 was largely due to the lockdowns and restrictions imposed by the authorities of the countries to combat the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. In particular, one of these measures was the temporary closure of bars and restaurants, due to which some establishments were forced to completely curtail.
In Europe, the largest reduction in beer production in 2020 compared to 2019 was recorded in Italy (-46%), Croatia (-29%), Spain (-14%) and Germany (-6.6%). The volume of foam drink production increased in Slovenia (+ 25%), France (+ 3%), Greece (+ 3%) and Lithuania (+ 3%).
At the same time, Germany remains the leader among the EU countries in the field of beer production: 24% of this drink produced in the EU falls on Germany, 12% - on Poland and 10% - on Spain.
According to Rosstat, beer production in Russia in 2020 increased by 3.3% compared to 2019 and amounted to 795 million decaliters.[3]world[4]
2019
Annual per capita beer consumption in litres in Europe
Number of breweries in the world
The top 5 countries by number of breweries for 2019 is as follows:
1. UNITED STATES (7141)
2. Germany (2158)
3. Great Britain (1811)
4. Italy (781)
5. Russia (743)
2018: Annual per capita beer consumption in litres in European countries
Notes
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