The beer sector is recovering, but it still hasn’t reached pre-pandemic levels

The Cerveceros de España association has published its socioeconomic report on the sector, analyzing data for the 2021 financial year. Although the industry saw the first signs of recovery last year, figures are still far from pre-pandemic levels. Rising energy costs and shortages of raw materials continue to squeeze producers.

During the last academic year, beer consumption in Spain reached 40 million hectoliters. Although this is 1.3 million less than in 2019, it remains the second‑highest consumption level of the last decade. In individual terms, this amounts to 50 liters per capita. It is worth noting that young people between 18 and 24 are less into beer than the population average.

In terms of sales, they exceeded 36 million hectoliters. That is, one and a half million less than in 2019. As in 2020, strong sales in the retail channel do not make up for the low figures in hospitality, caused by the restricted opening hours in the first months of the year and the mobility restrictions imposed by regional governments to curb Covid-19 infections. Likewise, the can remains the main container, while the keg shows a slight increase at the expense of glass.

As for production, it exceeded 38 million hectoliters, still 1.4 million hectoliters less than in 2019. This makes Spain the third-largest producer in Europe, behind only Germany and Poland, and the tenth worldwide. Of national production, three large groups brew 83% of the beer in Spain: Mahou San Miguel, Grupo Damm, and Heineken. Meanwhile, microbreweries account for only 0.13%. Of these, 77% of the beer is produced by 17% of the brewers. It is not an even distribution.

Meanwhile, exports have continued to rise, reaching 3.6 million hectoliters. This is four times higher than the figures for 2010. Imports, on the other hand, have reached five and a half million, with Belgium, France, and Portugal being the main points of origin.

In economic terms, the sector accounts for 10,000 direct jobs and generates 400,000 indirect jobs along the value chain, mainly in hospitality. According to the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), the sector’s turnover represents 23% of all beverages in our country and 4% of the overall food industry, with more than €3.8 billion. In turn, the brewing industry contributed more than €5.8 billion to the State in taxes last year.