In this article, we discuss the top 15 beer drinking countries in the world. If you want to skip our analysis of the beer industry and global beer consumption, go directly to the Top 5 Beer Drinking Countries in the World.
According to IRI’s 2022 report titled Beverage Alcohol Defies CPG Trends, 16% of alcohol consumers choose to drink beer only. A report by Wine Opinions found that 51% of beer drinkers had the beverage once or more than once a week and most of them were males.
In 2021, global beer consumption stood at around 185.6 million kiloliters, up by 4% from 2020. According to a report, Beer Market Outlook 2022-2026, global beer consumption is estimated to reach 166.6 million metric tons by 2026, seeing a decline of 0.6% per annum. As of 2021, China, the United States of America, and Brazil are the top three beer-drinking countries in the world that have maintained their rankings from the previous year.
According to a SkyQuest’s report, the global beer market was worth $768.17 billion in 2021 and will reach a value of $989.29 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 3.68%. Meanwhile, another report by Future Market Insights predicts that the market will be valued at $996 billion by 2033.
Recent Trends in the Global Beer Market
Two of the fast-emerging and most popular subsegments of beer are nonalcoholic beers and beers with low alcohol content. According to the report titled Non-alcoholic Beer Market by Fact.MR, in 2023, the global non-alcoholic beer market is worth $20 billion and is expected to reach $40 billion by 2033 at a CAGR of 7.2% between the aforementioned period.
One of the root causes behind the fame of low-alcohol content beers and non-alcoholic beers is the increasing trend of adopting healthy lifestyle changes among consumers. The trend has been ongoing for a while but COVID-19 spurred it greatly. According to Nielsen IQ, there was a 19.5% increase in the volume of non-alcoholic beer and it was responsible for 85.3% of the sales between August 2021 to August 2022 followed by non-alcoholic wine which accounted for 13.4% while the market worth was $328.6 million.
E-commerce is boosting beer sales and consumption worldwide. According to IWSR, the beer market has the potential to rapidly increase sales online in the coming years across all the important beer markets of the world. Of the top beer companies, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD) and Heineken N.V. (HEIA.AS) are benefitting from the online retail of beers. The latter reaped the benefits of its app when it reported that it was responsible for doubling sales (e-commerce) in Q3 2022.
Our research yields that the leading beer companies in the global beer market that investors should look into are Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD), Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO), and Molson Coors Beverage Company (NYSE:TAP).
Top 15 Beer Drinking Countries in the World
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Methodology
We based our rankings of the top 15 beer-drinking countries in the world on Kirin Holdings Company, Limited (OTC:KNBWY)’s report of Global Beer Consumption by Country in 2021 which was released on December 23, 2022. The countries are ranked in ascending order of beer consumption. For a deeper understanding of our readers, we also mentioned other metrics including the total beer consumption, per capita beer consumption, global market share, and growth rate.
Top 15 Beer Drinking Countries in the World
15. India
Total Consumption in 2021: 2,160 thousand kiloliters
India is slowly moving up the rankings in beer consumption, it took the 24th spot in 2020 and moved up to be the 14th country out of the top 15 beer-drinking countries in the world. Locals are preferring beer over whiskey, brandy, etc. due to its lower alcohol content hence the growth rate stood at 28.2% between 2018-2019.
The total consumption of the country jumped to 2,160 thousand kiloliters in 2021, significantly up from 1,686 thousand kiloliters in 2020, and occupied 1.2% of the global market share as of 2021. United Breweries Limited (UBL) is one of the top beer companies in the country and Kingfisher is its most prominent brand of beer.
14. France
Total Consumption in 2021: 2,061 thousand kiloliters
The topic of France’s alcohol consumption is frequently focused on wine but according to a report by the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT), the trend might be changing. According to the report, in the last 60 years, wine consumption per capita fell from 20 liters to 5.74 liters while beer consumption remained relatively stable at 2.4 liters per capita.
In 2021, the beer consumption of the country stood at 2,061 thousand kiloliters, up from 2,001 thousand kiloliters in 2020. The European country was knocked down a spot in the rankings between 2020 and 2021 and the growth rate from 2018 to 2019 was 3%.
According to the France Beer Industry Outlook 2022 - 2026, the country’s beer consumption will increase from 1.82 million metric tons in 2021 to 1.85 million metric tons by 2026. The top beer-selling company in France is Pernod Ricard SA (OTC:PRNDY) which has 240 brands under its belt.
13. Colombia
Total Consumption in 2021: 2,331 thousand kiloliters
Colombia held on to its ranking in terms of total beer consumption and is in the 13th spot on our list of the top 15 beer-drinking countries in the world. However, its total consumption increased to 2,331 thousand kiloliters in 2021 from 2,246 thousand kiloliters in 2020. According to a report named Alcoholic Drinks in 2021: The Big Picture, Bavaria Brewery, previously known as Bavaria SA and owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD), was the top company in the country due to its outstanding beer sales.
Total Consumption in 2021: 3,557 thousand kiloliters
Beer consumption in Poland is set to increase at a CAGR of 0.96% per year by 2025 according to a report published by Williams & Marshall Strategy. By 2026, the consumption of beer is predicted to reach 3.7 million metric tons.
As per research, Poles opt for non-alcoholic beers owing to “lifestyle choice” and are predicted to continue to choose them because of the health trend following the pandemic. Furthermore, locals prefer premium domestic and imported lager, compared to domestic lager.
Between 2020 and 2021, beer consumption slightly declined from 3,681 thousand kiloliters to 3,557 thousand kiloliters. As of 2021, the beer consumption volume per capita in the country was 94.1 liters.
11. South Africa
Total Consumption in 2021: 3,910 thousand kiloliters
South Africa’s global market share stands at 2.1% as of 2021 and the region saw a massive growth rate of 19.1% between 2018 and 2019. The company beat Spain in total beer consumption with 3,910 thousand kiloliters of total consumption. However, the consumption of the beverage might decrease ever so slightly by 0.3% annually from 2021 to 2026 and is expected to amount to 3.03 million metric tons by the end of 2026.
Distell Group Holdings Limited (OTC:DSTZF) is a South African brewery and one of the top beer companies in the world. The other companies that are leading the South African beer market are South African Breweries, Heineken N.V. (HEIA.AS), and others.
10. Spain
Total Consumption in 2021: 4,131 thousand kiloliters
According to a report called Spain Beer Market - Forecast (2023 - 2028), the demand for beer in 2021 in Spain was 3,619 million liters. Out of the top 15 beer-drinking countries in the world, Spain takes the 10th spot on our list as a total of 4,131 thousand kiloliters of beer was consumed in 2021, compared to 3,786 thousand kiloliters in 2020 while the per capita beer consumption was 88.5 liters in 2021.
According to a report, Spain Beer Industry Outlook 2022 - 2026, beer consumption is expected to be 3.4 million metric tons by 2026. According to 2021 data, the Spanish preferred non-alcohol beers like Mahou 0, 0 Tostada, or Warsteiner Premium Fresh and beers with low alcohol content like Mahou Sin and Mahou Mixta. The leading beer companies in Spain are Mahou-San Miguel Group and Cruzcampo Brewery owned by Heineken N.V. (HEIA.AS).
9. Vietnam
Total Consumption in 2021: 4,159 thousand kiloliters
As of 2021, Vietnam accounted for 2.2% of the global market share with total consumption of 4,159 thousand kiloliters. It has the highest beer consumption in the ASEAN region but the consumption per capita is expected to slow down at a CAGR of 4.61% by 2025. In 2021, the country won four gold medals at the Asia Beer Championship 2021, evidence of the nation’s place in the Asian beer market.
A new emerging beer consumption trend witnessed in the nation is locals preferring craft beers over big beers and there has been a surge of craft beer breweries opening since 2018. The most famous beer companies in Vietnam are Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp, Heineken N.V. (HEIA.AS), Hanoi Beer Alcohol and Beverage Corp. (Habeco), and Sapporo Breweries Ltd.
8. Japan
Total Consumption in 2021: 4,188 thousand kiloliters
Japan takes the eighth spot on our list of the top 15 beer-drinking countries in the world but it is one of the eight countries to see a decrease in beer consumption in 2021. The consumption decreased by 5.2% and it was the first decline in the consumption of the country in 15 years. The per capita consumption in 2021 was 33.2 liters.
Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. (2502.T) is the biggest alcohol brewing company in the country and its two most famous beer brands are Asahi Super Dry and Peroni Nastro Azzurro. The other noteworthy mention is Kirin Holdings Company, Limited (OTC:KNBWY), one of the top and oldest beer companies in Japan. It sells two of the most popular beers in the country, namely Kirin Lager and Ichiban Shibori.
7. United Kingdom
Total Consumption in 2021: 4,608 thousand kiloliters
In 2021, the increase in Europe’s beer consumption was largely owed to the United Kingdom as its consumption grew by 12.7%. With a total consumption of 4,608 thousand kiloliters, the sovereign nation falls just below Germany on our list and has a per capita consumption of 67.6 liters.
The U.K. occupies 2.5% of the global market share and one of its top beer companies is Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO). The company’s most famous beer brand is Guinness and it is the most consumed beer in the U.K.
6. Germany
Total Consumption in 2021: 7,584 thousand kiloliters
Germany occupies almost twice the size of the global market share compared to the U.K. at 4.1%. Even though beer consumption decreased by 2.1% in the country in 2021, the country managed to consume a total of 7,584 thousand kiloliters.
Recently, Germans have been moving toward craft beer and specialty beer. The trend started before pandemic-related health concerns. Germans have been decreasing drinking beer due to stricter alcohol laws and the adverse effects of beer on health. According to estimates, out of every 15 beers sold in the country, one is non-alcoholic.
Beer is considered more of a seasonal drink in Germany and is sold most in summer. At the European Beer Star 2021, the country’s breweries won 78 awards.
