Total beer supply in the U.S. was down 3.6% in May compared to the same month in 2024, marking continued declines but slight improvements for the industry, according to data from the Beer Institute (BI).
Industry supply includes domestic shipments, plus imports. The latest figures follow at 5.8% year-over-year (YoY) decline in April.
Year-to-date (YTD) through May, U.S. beer supply is down 5.8% compared to the same period in 2024. YoY declines are slightly smaller (-4.6%).
Both YTD and YoY trends are expected to improve over the next few months, as “the upcoming summer selling season months offer some of the easiest year-over-year comps the industry will have this year,” according to BI chief economist Andrew Heritage.
“The past three months have already shown some moderating trends as U.S. produced beer is down only 1.8% from March through May,” he added.
Imports recorded the largest YoY hit, as the industry continues to tackle macroeconomic factors such as tariffs and immigration crackdowns. May beer imports fell 6.9% YoY, to nearly 3.77 million barrels, according to the BI, citing data from the Department of Commerce.
YTD imports are now down 5.4%, to nearly 16.96 million barrels, marking a loss of nearly 1 million barrels compared to the first five months of 2024.
Mexican beer imports were nearly flat (-0.9% YoY, to 103.16 million gallons, or 3.33 million barrels), a stark improvement from the 15.1% YoY decline recorded in April. However, as the No. 1 contributor of beer import volume, the minor loss in May still accounted for a nearly 1 million gallon (32,258 barrels) loss for imports’ collective volume compared to May 2024.
Mexican beer imports are now down 3.2% YTD, to nearly 442.79 million gallons (14.28 million barrels), marking a loss of nearly 14.76 million gallons YTD (476,096 barrels).
Also contributing to the collective decline was a 41.9% YoY decline from the Netherlands, to 6.25 million gallons (201,749 barrels). The double-digit loss was well above the Netherlands’ April decline (-8.8% YoY) and YTD trends (-12.1%).
Across the top countries by YTD beer imports, five others recorded double-digit volume losses YoY:
- No. 4 Germany, -26.7% YoY, +6.2% YTD;
- No. 5 Canada, -86.7% YoY, -81.8% YTD;
- No. 6 Belgium, -32.5% YoY, +17.8% YTD;
- No. 7 Italy, -83.1% YoY, -60.2% YTD;
- No. 10 Jamaica, -42% YoY, -31.3% YTD.
YoY gains were recorded by No. 3 Ireland (+16.4% YoY, +15.4% YTD); No. 8 Guatemala (+44.8% YoY, +22.8% YTD); and No. 9 the U.K. (+169.9% YoY, +34.1% YTD).
May domestic tax paid shipments declined 2.6%, to an estimated 13.2 million barrels, marking a loss of more than 350,000 barrels YoY and the second consecutive month of tax paids declines, following a 3% YoY loss in April.
March is the only month so far in 2025 to increase domestic tax paids YoY (+0.3%). However, the majority of figures – provided by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) – are estimates, and could be corrected later in the year.
YTD tax paids have now declined 5.9%, to nearly 58.48 million barrels, down from nearly 62,179 barrels at this time in 2024 (-3,698,671 barrels YTD).
At the state level, shipments declined 4.3% YoY, to 17.2 million barrels. YTD, state level shipments have declined 5.9%, to 73.7 million barrels, marking a loss of more than 4.58 million barrels.
Maine recorded the steepest shipment volume decline at 15.6% YoY, to 92,000 barrels. Maine’s May 2025 declines also far outpaced its YTD loss of -6%.
Arizona (-13.9%, to 331,806 barrels) saw the second-steepest decline, followed by:
- Oregon, -12.6%, to 212,000 barrels;
- Illinois, -11.8%, to 656,000 barrels;
- Indiana, -11.6%, to 325,551 barrels;
- And New Hampshire, -11.6%, to 107,000 barrels.
Ten states recorded YoY shipment volume growth in May:
- Rhode Island, +16.7%, to 46,000 barrels;
- North Dakota, +12.4%, to 61,000 barrels;
- Utah, +7.7%, to 120,000 barrels;
- Mississippi, +6.3%, to 191,000 barrels;
- Oklahoma, +5.4%, to 222,443 barrels;
- South Dakota, +4.6%, to 68,000 barrels;
- North Carolina, +2.8%, to 596,000 barrels;
- Alaska, +2.1%, to 50,000 barrels;
- Texas, +1.1%, to 2,023,000 barrels;
- And South Carolina, +0.5%, to 369,000 barrels.
Washington, D.C., was flat at 26,000 barrels.
YTD, Texas remained the leader in volume, with 8.51 million barrels shipped (-4.3%), followed by No. 2 California (7.81 million barrels YTD, -3.9% YoY), No. 3 Florida (5.49 million barrels, -8.5% YoY), No. 4 New York (3.27 million barrels, 8.5% YoY) and No. 5 Pennsylvania (2.88 million barrels, -4.1% YoY).
The BI’s June economic reports will be released on August 5.