E-Malt.com News article: Germany: Per capita beer consumption downs to a new record low of 112.5 litres in 2007

A poor summer and an ageing population dragged German per capita beer consumption down to a record low of 112.5 litres in 2007, the country's brewing association said on December 23rd.

Brewery Association managing director Peter Hahn predicted little or no improvement in the year ahead. "We will have to get used to long-term declines in consumption figures," he told the Welt newspaper.

Hahn predicted the decline would begin to hurt the 1,284 breweries in Germany - more than in any other country. While no closures were likely in the immediate future, there would probably be mergers and acquisitions, he said. "We are going to see an increased concentration in favour of the larger brewing companies, Hahn said.

He also predicted little or no improvement in the year ahead. "We will have to get used to long-term declines in consumption figures," Hahn told the paper.

The 2007 figure was 3.5 litres down on that for 2006, which was boosted by Germany's hosting of the Football World Cup, and confirmed a trend that set in a decade ago. The soccer World Cup last year did wonders for beer sales in Germany. Only once in the last nine years did beer consumption in Germany rise -- in 2006 when it hosted the soccer World Cup.

Brewery Association managing director Peter Hahn told Die Welt newspaper on Monday, Dec. 24, that demographics were partly to blame for the fall from a peak of 156 liters in the 1980s. Statisticians reckon that by 2050 the group of people past the age of 60 in Germany will be twice as high as those under 20.

But Germans are also drinking more non-alcoholic beverages, industry figures show.

According to figures compiled by the Japanese brewing company Kirin, Germany is third on the list of per capita beer consumption, behind the Czech Republic and Ireland.


27 December, 2007