A survey conducted by Kirin on the amount of beer and happoshu drunk across the world in 2002 found that about 141.56 billion liters had been consumed. It was the 17th year in a row that world consumption rose, climbing above the previous year's figure by 2.1 %. Converted into large bottles of beer, about 22.36 million bottles were drunk. That is enough to fill Tokyo Dome about 114 times, Kirin said under Wire reports, Japan on December 26.

The number one beer-consuming country was the United States, which reportedly consumed about 23.82 billion liters. The number two beer-consuming country is China, where 23.49 billion liters was drunk during 2002, an increase of 4.7% compared with the previous year. The third one is Germany with 10.04 billion litres, and then comes Brazil with 8.35 billion litres. The number five beer-consuming country is Russia with 7.08 billion litres of beer.

By country, Japan ranked at No. 6 in total beer consumption, at 6.93 million kiloliters, after dropping 2.6 % from 2001 and falling behind Russia, where popularity of drinks with an alcohol content lower than that of vodka is reportedly increasing.

The amount of beer consumer per person was highest in the Czech Republic, which consumed about 249 large bottles per person -- about three times the amount in Japan. Second and third were Ireland and Germany, respectively. Japan was 25th in personal consumption, at 85 bottles per person.

26 December, 2003