Europe Drinks Less Beer In The 21st Century

Ireland and Russia areamongst the few countries where beer sales and consumption are predicted to increase inThe European Beer Market 2000-2005, a new report published by Retail Intelligence. Thefall in beer sales across Western Europe in 1998 has been attributed to many causes. Theseinclude poor summer weather conditions in Germany and Scandinavia, more stringentdrink-driving legislation in Denmark and in the UK, the early exits of England andScotland from the World Cup.

February 11, 2000

This is part of a morelong-term trend. In 1999 beer sales in Western Europe are forecast to fall by just under1% to 296mn hectrolitres; by the year 2010 the majority of Northern European markets areexpected to have declined by 14-18%. Beer consumption in Germany, the largest singlemarket, is predicted to fall by an even greater 20% over the period with the closure of300 breweries. Germany and other traditional beer-drinking nations such as the UK andDenmark are experiencing the Western European shift towards wine consumption. Conversely,Mediterranean countries have recently experienced a shift in the opposite direction. TheGreek and Italian markets both increased by around 6% between 1997 and 1998, but theregion is not expected to make any strong advances during the next decade.

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