People in Germany are drinking less beer than ever before, with German breweries selling a total of 3.9 billion liters of alcoholic beer at home and abroad in the first half of 2025, DPA reported. This is the lowest recorded figure since 1993, when statistics have been available, BTA reported.
This is a drop of 6.3 percent compared to the same period last year, the Federal Statistical Office "Destatis" reported today.
Similar declines were only observed in the first months of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. and again in the second half of 2023.
For the first time, beer sales volume falls below the 4 billion liter mark in a six-month period.
Domestic sales, which still account for just under 82 percent of total volumes, fell by 6.1 percent, while exports fell even more sharply – by 7.1 percent.
The German Brewers Association attributes this decline not only to demographic changes but also to broader economic challenges.
"The poor consumer climate is hitting breweries hard, just like the restaurant sector and retail sales," said the association's CEO Holger Eichele.
He also warned that the EU's new tariff agreements with the United States could further increase the pressure on exporters.
The only light in the tunnel is thanks to non-alcoholic beer: data show that 579 million liters were produced in Germany last year, almost twice as much as a decade ago, the DPA added.
The market share is now 9 percent, meaning that soon one in every 10 beers brewed in Germany will be non-alcoholic.
Non-alcoholic beers are particularly popular in the hotel and restaurant sector.
According to data from the "Kollex Beer Monitor", which analyzes orders from the restaurant industry, one in eight beers ordered in German restaurants in the first half of the year was non-alcoholic.
The southwest of the country, where wine is more popular, takes a leading position in the consumption of non-alcoholic beer: in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, almost one in four orders is for non-alcoholic beer.
According to Volker Kuhl, head of the "Veltins" brewery, the potential of non-alcoholic beers should not be overestimated, noting the fierce competition in the segment, adds DPA.