Drinks: Why Germany is no longer one of the top 5 beer brewers

Russia has replaced Germany from the top 5 of the world’s largest beer producers. While a little less brewed in Germany last year, the emissions rose significantly there, as can be seen from the current industry report by the world’s largest hop dealer Barthhaas in Nuremberg. Germany also loses its title as a European champion of beer producers, whom it has held since 2013. China remains in front of the USA worldwide number one.

According to Heinrich Meier, who wrote the report, the crucial reason for the change at the European top is that beer production in Russia increased by around 9 percent to 9.1 billion liters. In Germany, on the other hand, it fell by one percent to 8.4 billion liters. Five years ago, Germany had certified a lead of around 1.4 billion liters, which had recently been melted.

The increase in beer emissions in Russia attributes Barthhaas Managing Director Thomas Raiser to the fact that less beer is now imported and that domestic production is pushed out.

Compared to global numbers one and two, all the small numbers are: According to the report, China came to a good 34 billion liters, the USA at a good 18 billion – both declines had to accept around 5 percent. Also more beer than Russia and Germany produced Brazil and Mexico in 2024 with 14.7 and 14.5 billion liters. Worldwide production fell minimally to 187.5 billion liters.

The brewery landscape in Germany is comparatively small. The largest local company, the Radeberger Group, is only in 23th place worldwide. In addition, there are many small breweries that fight with high costs. In addition, there has been a rather declining trend in beer consumption in Germany for a long time. After all, another descent in the global ranking is hardly to be expected in the coming years: Germany is almost four billion liters ahead of number seven, Japan.

The demand in the traditional beer countries of western industrialized nations can be seen declining at Barthhaas. Behind it are the aging population, the competition with more and more other drinks and a falling purchasing power in economically difficult times.

“The numbers show how big the challenges for our brewing industry are: Germany, like many countries in Europe, has to struggle with declining consumption,” says Holger Eichele, the managing director of the German Brauer Association. “At the same time, the geopolitical risks increase dramatically, the uncertainties in the export business are increasing. Against this background, you have to be very optimistic in order to expect a positive balance for the German beer market for 2025.”

Germany is ahead of hops

In contrast, Germany is the reigning world champion in the production of hops – one of the three traditional ingredients for beer. According to Barthhaas, 46,536 tons were harvested in this country in 2024, the USA as the currently global number two came to 39,995 tons. The last developments in the acreage indicate that this could remain so at the harvest in the current year. The two countries are responsible for around two thirds of the global harvest of 113,528 tons.

However, the hop construction areas are shrinking worldwide, because despite sometimes falling harvesting quantities, there has been a structural oversupply with the plant for years, which, among other things, gives the beer its bitter note. There are several effects behind it: On the one hand, the harvested hop – also thanks to profitable varieties – contained more of the bitter alphaic acid, so that less is used. On the other hand, Managing Director Raiser observes that beers are currently more in demand with fewer hops. The hop intake areas are expected to continue to shrink.

The consequences of this change can also be felt in Germany. The number of hop farmers in the country has been falling for a long time, this year it fell to less than 1,000. A “historical low”, as the Association of German Hop Planters recently noted. According to Barthhaas, there were 1,435 companies in 2010. Because many acceptance contracts expire with the harvesting in a few weeks and the prices are under pressure, Raiser considers it possible that the decline will accelerate even further.