E-Malt.com News article: Pakistan: Murree Brewery restarts beer exports for the first time since prohibition imposed in 1977

Pakistan brewer Murree Brewery, the country’s oldest brewhouse, has restarted beer exports for the first time since a government prohibition was imposed in 1977. The Pakistani authorities granted Murree an exclusive licence earlier this year to export alcoholic beer to non-Muslim markets, thus ending a ban on alcoholic imports and exports that had endured for nearly five decades, Asia Brewers Network reported on November 24.

The permission renders Murree Brewery effectively the only Pakistani producer currently authorised to ship alcoholic beverages abroad. Even though export volumes remain modest, with the firm reports shipping around US $30,000 worth of beer overseas in September, the company has already dispatched shipments to Portugal and the United Kingdom, and has active orders pending for Japan. The brewer anticipates volumes to grow steadily as its international distribution network is built up.

The company has also been granted approval for a 10–15 % domestic price increase in recognition of its capacity investment and export expansion efforts.

Within Pakistan, Murree has long operated a highly constrained domestic business. In the Islamic republic of approximately 241 million people, alcohol sales are licensed only to non-Muslim consumers, a population numbering about nine million, and to a tightly regulated set of outlets with price controls and restricted advertising. Although Murree has managed to survive, the domestic alcohol market has been stagnant for many years.

The brewery was founded by the British in 1860, and under has been under the ownership of the Bhandara family since the country’s creation in 1947, making it the longest running commercial enterprise in the country. Murree operates in Rawalpindi and Hattar, producing beer, spirits and non-alcoholic beverages. For the year ended 30 June 2025, the company reported net revenue of more than US$100 million for the first time, and a net profit of PKR3.3 billion (US$11.685 million). Alcoholic and non-alcoholic products each account for roughly half of turnover; and the non-alcoholic division already exports to more than a dozen countries.

Legal competition in Pakistan remains extremely limited. There is a Chinese-run venture, Hui Coastal Brewery, established in Balochistan in 2021 that serves primarily Chinese expatriates, but is reported not to have been granted export rights. Smuggled imported liquor continues to circulate widely.


01 December, 2025