Total U.S. beer supply ended 2024 down -1.8%, the Beer Institute (BI) reported Wednesday in the trade group’s latest round of economic reports.
The four months from June through September accounted for 87% of the volume decline versus 2023, with an atypical summer selling season. The remainder of the year followed similar patterns to 2023, according to BI chief economist Andrew Heritage.
Domestic tax paid shipments declined -3.3% in 2024, marking a loss of more than 5 million barrels versus 2023, according to estimates from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). Shipments declined eight out of the 12 months of 2024, including a -3.3% year-over-year (YoY) decline in December. The largest decline (-15.9%) was recorded in March, which accounted for nearly half of the volume loss for the year, shedding more than 2.3 million barrels compared to March 2023.
Shipment growth was recorded in January (+2.7%), February (+9.6%), May (+5.8%) and October (+0.8%).
State shipments declined -0.5% in December and -1.8% for full-year 2024, with nearly 189 million barrels shipped last year.
Texas, the largest beer state by shipment volume, was in the red but outperformed overall trend, with shipments declining -0.5% year-to-date (YTD), and -0.1% YoY in December.
Other major beer states recorded declines around -1% to -2%:
- California -1.6% YTD, -9.9% YoY in December;
- Florida -1.4% YTD, +4% YoY;
- New York -1.2% YTD, -0.3% YoY;
- Pennsylvania -1.3% YTD, +5% YoY.
The largest full-year percentage decline was recorded by Hawaii (-8.2%), which spent most of the year recovering from wildfires that hit the state in Summer 2023. Significant volume declines were also recorded in Illinois (-4.2%, -300,000 barrels) and Ohio (-2.5%, -175,000 barrels).
Two states finished 2024 in the black: Utah (+0.3%) and Oklahoma (+0.1%).
Beer imports declined -6.7% YoY, but still finished the year in the black, increasing +3.9% versus full-year 2023, according to estimates from the Department of Commerce.
Mexican imports accounted for 82.5% of total beer import volume in 2024, with nearly 1.07 billion gallons (about 34.5 million barrels). The country ended the year up +5.3%, despite a -6.7% YoY decline in December as the threat of tariffs continues to loom.
The second largest beer importer, the Netherlands, ended the year down -0.5% with a -8.9% YoY decline in December. Declines would have been sharper if not for non-alcohol beer from the country, which increased +14.5% YTD – likely boosted by Heineken 0.0.
Total imported non-alcohol beer increased +17.5% in 2024, and accounted for 1.4% for total imported beer volume.
No. 3 beer importer Ireland ended 2024 up +11.6%. Despite growth from Diageo’s Guinness in recent months, the country recorded a -7.9% decline in December.
Other top 10 beer importer performances include:
- Canada -32.4% YTD, -32.5% in December;
- Germany +3.7% YTD, +35.2% in December;
- Italy +9.9% YTD, +8.7% in December;
- Belgium +0.4% YTD, +22.7% in December;
- Guatemala +24.7% YTD, +32.2% in December;
- Jamaica -10% YTD, -11% in December;
- U.K. +31.5% YTD, +17.5% in December.