German beer day: The German beer brewers have a double sales problem

The export opportunities for German beer have noticed noticeably in some non -European markets. Customs are not only a big issue for exporters to the USA. According to expert assessment, the remaining Russian exports are likely to break away due to high tariffs.

Ultimately, beer drinkers in Germany could even benefit from the poorer export opportunities. Because there are considerable overcapacity in the German brewing industry, and the beer sales in Germany continue to shrink vigorously in the current year, as the figures for the first few months show.

“Since April 5, 2025, the German breweries have been affected by the ten percent basic customs set of the USA and for beer in aluminum doses from the 25 percent add of the aluminum,” says the managing director of the association of export breweries North, West and southwest Germany, Rodger Wegner. In July, customs could even increase to 20 percent if the USA and the EU did not agree on the general tariffs. The trade conflict with the United States had clouded the prospects.

Where does most of the export beer go?

According to data from the Federal Statistical Office, 18 percent of German beer production is almost a fifth. That was 1.45 billion liters. The largest sales markets were Italy in 2024 with 324 million euros, China with 94 million euros, Russia with 85 million euros, France with 71 million euros and the United States with 68 million euros.

In recent years, the comparatively stable export has helped the breweries to better cope with the even greater sales break -in in Germany. Between 2014 and 2024, domestic sales decreased by 15 percent, while export shrank by 6 percent.

In the opinion of Niklas Other, editor of the beverage magazine “Inside”, the manufacturer of Billigbier, publisher of the beverage magazine “Inside”, are affected by an annoyance of customs in Russia per liter of beer. “These are overcapacities that are now pressing on other export markets and also on the German beer market,” he describes. However, a number of manufacturers of large German beer brands had already withdrawn from the Russian market to Ukraine in 2022 after Russia’s raid.

Many price promotions in retail

But not only in the lowest pricing, the competition remains great for the advantage of the local beer drinkers. As the Easter business showed again, commercial companies use special offers for beer with prices at 9.99 euros per box, 20 half -liter bottles still regularly inserted as “decoy” to pull customers into their shops. “Who buys at a normal price if they know that an offer will definitely come again soon,” says Other. With the mostly drunk beer variety Pils in Germany, more than two thirds of the amount of beer have been sold over action offers for a long time.

With Veltins and Krombacher, two manufacturers of large beer brands from North Rhine-Westphalia show their export business. The export markets outside of Europe are very competitive and all too often ran out on unique deliveries.

What it looks like with known brands

“Our concentration lies in the neighboring European countries, which give us veritable sales potential and gastronomic appreciation with reliable importers in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands,” says Veltins Managing Director Volker Kuhl. After a weakness in sales in 2024, the company expects an increase for 2025.

At the Krombacher private brewery, export only makes up a very small part of the paragraph at around five percent. “To do this, we can only export negligible quantities to the USA that are not really a focus country for our export activities. According to Russia, we have not been delivering to Ukraine since the beginning of the war of aggression,” says a speaker.

The beer manufacturer Oettinger, who owns a brewery in Mönchengladbach outside of Bavaria, wants to focus more on Asia. “We also affect the industry development. Against this background, we have changed our orientation at Oettinger drinks. We also work intensively to intensify the export to Asia in order to open up new markets and further expand our international presence,” it said.

It depends on the weather

In the meantime, the beer sales in the first two months of 2025 were also terrifyingly weak for the industry. Overall, the beer sales in Germany in January and February have shrunk by a good 570,000 hectoliters compared to the same period last year. “These are almost 115 million half-liter jugs that the beer drinkers have refused,” says Other. The forecast is also rather poor for the whole year: “A super summer would have to come to save the German brewers.”