The European Union brewed up 34.7bn litres of beer in 2024, according to new data from Eurostat – a slight but notable increase from the year before. Germany led in beer production, the Netherlands topped exports, while France saw the highest imports.
Eurostat also noted that the first Friday of August marks International Beer Day.
Prost!
According to Eurostat, Germany held onto its crown as the EU’s top beer producer for another year, churning out 7.2bn litres — over a fifth of the bloc’s total. Spain (4.0bn litres) and Poland (3.4bn litres) rounded out the top three, followed by the Netherlands and Belgium.
On the export front, the Netherlands maintained its position as the EU’s leading beer exporter with 1.5bn litres, though exports dropped 12% year-on-year. Germany and Belgium were close behind at 1.4bn litres each.
Meanwhile, France remained the EU’s biggest beer importer, bringing in 800m litres in 2024, ahead of Italy, Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands.
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Of the total, 32.7 billion litres were traditional beer with more than 0.5% alcohol, while 2 billion litres were low- or non-alcohol varieties, which saw a sharp 11.1% jump in output. Regular beer production also edged up by 0.6%, or 200 million litres.
