An estimated 1.884 billion hectoliters (hl), or 1.58 billion barrels, of beer were produced worldwide in 2023, a -0.9% decline year-over-year (YoY), according to global hop supplier BarthHaas in its annual report.
Brewbound dove into hop trends from the report last week, including an +11.5% increase in crop yield despite shrinking hop acreage. Some of the beer production numbers are estimates, as “it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain figures for beer output volume for individual countries,” BarthHaas wrote.
China continues to reign as the No. 1 beer producing country, making 359.08 million hl (301.14 million barrels) in 2023, equivalent to 19.1% share of global beer volume. The country’s production volume declined by -1.325 million hl (1.11 million barrels) compared to 2022, when China produced more than 360.4 million hl of beer (302.23 million barrels).
Countries across Asia produced a combined 574.32 million hl (481.65 million barrels) of beer in 2023, a -1% decline YoY.
The U.S. ranked No. 2, with 10.2% share of global beer volume, producing 193.03 million hl of beer (161.89 million barrels) in 2023, down from 204.52 million hl (171.51 million barrels) in 2022. The U.S. was the only country in the Americas to record a production decline, and the only country to be on a downward trend since 2021, while all other major beer producing countries have remained relatively flat.
Countries across the Americas produced a combined 625.12 million hl (52.43 million barrels) in 2023, declining -1.1% YoY after increasing production +2.7% in 2022.
The other top 10 beer producing countries include:
- No. 4 Mexico (7.6% share), producing 142.41 million hl (119.43 million barrels) in 2023, up from 141 million hl (118.25 million barrels) in 2022;
- No. 5 Germany (4.5% share), producing 84.89 million hl (71.19 million barrels) in 2023, down from 87.81 million hl (73.64 million barrels) in 2022;
- No. 6 Russia (4.4% share), producing 83.4 million hl (69.94 million barrels) in 2023, up from 81.7 million hl (68.52 million barrels) in 2022;
- No. 7 Japan (2.4% share), producing 45.32 million hl (38 million barrels) in 2023, down from 45.88 million hl (38.48 million barrels) in 2022;
- No. 8 Spain (2.2% share), producing 41.3 million hl (34.64 million barrels) in 2023, up from 41.14 million hl (34.5 million barrels) in 2022;
- No. 9 Poland (1.9% share), producing 35.8 million hl (30.02 million barrels) in 2023, up from 37.8 million hl (31.7 million barrels) in 2022;
- No. 10 South Africa (1.9% share), producing 35.1 million hl (29.44 million barrels) in 2023, up from 33.75 million hl (28.3 million barrels) in 2022.
Europe (-1.7%) and Asia (-1%) both recorded YoY production declines, while Africa (+3.1%) and Australia/Oceania (+3.4%) increased production.
Despite declines in the U.S., Anheuser-Busch InBev remained the No. 1 brewer by production volume, with 26.9% share of global beer volume. The beer giant produced 505.9 million hl (424.27 million barrels) in 2023.
The rest of the top 10 includes:
- Heineken, 242.6 million hl (203.45 million barrels), 12.9% share of global beer volume;
- China Resources Snow Breweries, 111.51 million hl (93.52 million barrels), 5.9% share;
- Carlsberg, 101 million hl (84.7 million barrels), 5.4% share;
- Molson Coors, 83.77 million hl (70.52 million barrels), 4.4% share;
- Tsingtao Brewery Group, 74.1 mil hl (62.14 million barrels), 3.9% share;
- Asahi Group, 65 million hl (54.51 million barrels), 3.5% share;
- BGI/Groupe Castel, 42.7 million hl (35.81 million barrels), 2.3% share;
- Yanjing, 39.42 million hl (33.06 million barrels), 2.1% share;
- Efes Group, 35.7 million hl (29.94 million barrels), 1.9% share.
“In the 2024 brewing year, we expect beer output to remain stable, while alpha demand falls,” BarthHaas wrote. “We can observe a trend toward lighter beers and in some cases reduced hop addition in brewing recipes.”