The Top 5 Beer Producing Countries

  Country Production in Litres Percentage of World Total
1 China 49.2 billion liters 25.0%
2 United States 22.5 billion liters 11.4%
3 Brazil 14.0 billion liters 7.1%
4 Germany 9.5 billion liters 4.8%
5 Mexico 8.2 billion liters 4.1%
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 Special Report
  1. Global beer production amounted to 181 million kilolitres in 2009, up 0.4% from 2008. The volume of global beer production in 2009 was 44.08 million kilolitres, or 32.3%, more than in 1999. Nearly half of that growth came from China, where beer production increased by 21.63 million kilolitres during the past decade. China, the world's largest beer-producing country, increased its beer production by 7.0% from 2008 to more than 40 million kilolitres in 2009, continuing to gain production share in the global market. As increases in personal income and higher living standards, both created by economic growth, have been driving the growth of beer-drinking population in China, beer production is expected to maintain its growth momentum in that country. Asia, where the volume of beer production in 2009 increased by 5.5% from its year-earlier level, became for the first time the largest beer-producing region in the world with a 32.4% share of global production; Europe, where beer production in 2009 decreased by 5.1% from the previous year, slipped to second place with a 30.5% production share.
  2. It takes 1,500 gallons (5,678 litres) of water to process one barrel of beer. "Utopias" is one of the strongest beers in the world and is brewed by Sam Adams Brewery. It is 25% alcohol by volume and is made from the finest Bavarian hops of Saaz, Spalt Spalter, Hallertau Mittelfruh and Tettnang Tettnanger. It is aged in oak barrels and it comes in antique copper-coloured bottles. The price tag is $100 for a 24 oz bottle and it's brewed for 2 oz servings. The most expensive beer in the world is called "Tutankhamen Ale" and is prepared according to the recipe recovered by a group of University of Cambridge archaeologists in Queen Nefertiti's Temple of the Sun in Egypt (Beer brewing dates to almost 6000 BC). It costs US $52 a bottle, and is produced in limited and numbered edition. The first bottle of this brand was sold for a record $7,686. Belgium has over 400 brands of beer.
  3. A disaster called "The London Beer Flood" occurred on October 17, 1814 in the parish of St. Giles, London, England. At the Meux and Company Brewery on Tottenham Court Road London. An enormous vat containing over 135,000 imperial gallons (610,000 litres) of beer ruptured, causing other vats in the same building to burst in a chain reaction. As a result, more than 323,000 imperial gallons (1,470,000 litres) of beer burst out and washed into the streets. The wave of beer was so large that it destroyed two homes and crumbled the wall of the Tavistock Arms Pub, trapping a young employee named Eleanor Cooper under the rubble. The brewery was located among the poor houses and tenements of the St Giles Rookery, where whole families lived in basement rooms that quickly filled with beer. Eight people drowned in the flood. The brewery was demolished in 1922, and today, the Dominion Theatre occupies a part of the site of the former brewery.
  4. The four biggest international brewing groups produce approximately 45% of world beer volume, while the 40 biggest brewing companies have a joint output of 85%.
  5. For the first time since 1992, world beer output did not rise, but fell by nearly 10 million hectoliters (1 hectoliters = 100 litres). In total, more than 1.8 billion hl of beer were brewed worldwide. Nearly all the western industrialized countries registered a fall in output. Had it not been for China, which further raised its beer output and produced more than 423 million hl, global volumes may even have declined. China produced more beer than any other countries in the world in 2009, remaining at the top spot for the eighth year in a row. Among the top 25 beer-producing countries in the world, Vietnam, Argentina and China ranked in the top three countries that achieved the highest growth rate in beer production in 2009 - with 24.3%, 9.7%, and 7.0% respectively.
Top 5 facts sources:
  1. Kirin Institute of Food and Lifestyle Report vol 26. (2010). Retrieved July, 2010.
  2. The Barth Report. (2010) Market Leaders 2009. Retrieved July, 2010.
Tags: Business, Finance & Industry, Food & Drink

Sources:  Barth Haas Group 2016: “The Barth Report."

List Notes: Data is the top 5 beer producing countries for the year 2014 in millions of litres and is the latest available data as of March 24th, 2016.
Beer Producing Countries

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