Sales of beer in Germany dropped for a seventh year in 2013 to their lowest since 1989. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported that 94.6 million hectolitres of beer was sold by German breweries in 2013, a decrease of 1,9 million hectolitres. The domestic market was down by 2%. Other Europeans drank less German beer with EU sales down 8,6% while overall exports dropped by 3,8%. Germany is Europe’s biggest beer producer and has some 1,300 breweries producing about 5,000 different beers.
In contrast beer sales in the UK have risen for two consecutive quarters in 2013 for the first time in 10 years.