How the Spanish beer sector performed in 2022

As every year, the Spanish Brewers Association and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food present their socioeconomic report on the beer sector in Spain. This valuable document offers an overview of the industry, from production to consumption and its impact on the country’s economy. Let’s look at some key points to understand how the recovery is progressing after the pandemic.

In 2022, beer consumption in Spain stood at 58 liters per person, an increase of 5.7% compared to the previous year. In total, Spaniards drank 42.3 million hectoliters. Consumption has rebounded due to factors such as the persistence of at-home drinking habits acquired during the pandemic and the return to hospitality venues without restrictions, combined with an extremely hot summer and autumn that made 2022 the warmest year since 1961.

As for sales, these reached 38.9 million hectoliters, thus continuing on the path to recovery. However, it has not been an easy year for the craft segment, which has not yet returned to pre-2019 levels. The hospitality sector, which has improved significantly compared to the previous year (almost 32%), also failed to reach pre-pandemic levels. While in 2019 nearly 70% of beer was consumed outside the home, in 2022 this figure fell to 60%.

Likewise, beer production in Spain reached 41.1 million hectoliters, an increase of 7.9% compared to the previous year. This figure places Spain as the second-largest beer producer in the European Union, behind only Germany. At the same time, the sector’s investment in technology and innovation continued to reduce water and energy consumption in Spanish beer production.

As for exports, in 2022 they reached 4.2 million hectoliters, an increase of 13.4% compared to the previous year. The main destinations for Spanish beer remain the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Italy and Germany.

In terms of its contribution to the national economy, the sector generated 450,000 jobs across the entire value chain, from field to table, and contributed 5.84 billion euros to Spain’s GDP, 24% more than the previous year. These figures show how the recovery of the beer sector is consolidating in Spain, with a view to surpassing 2019’s results in 2023.