Brewing beer exists since ancient times of Mesopotamia
almost 7000 years ago. Till date, beer is one of the most consumed beverages in
the entire world. The data recently available shows that in 2020 consumption of
beer exceeded up to 177 million kiloliters around the world. The consumption of
beer varies depending on the location. Let’s look at the countries that consume
the most beer.
The country on top of the list is China. Chinese consumption
of beer reached 36 million kiloliters in the year 2020. This amount of beer is
enough to fill more than 14,000 Olympic-sized pools. The country is accountable
for massive consumption of 1/5th of total beer consumption
worldwide.
The table below shows the top 25 countries that consume the most beer, and their global market share:
|
Ranking |
Country |
Total Consumption (thousand kl) |
Global Market Share |
|
1 |
China |
36,088 |
20.30% |
|
2 |
United States of
America |
24,105 |
13.60% |
|
3 |
Brazil |
13,847 |
7.80% |
|
4 |
Russia |
8,646 |
4.90% |
|
5 |
Mexico |
8,287 |
4.70% |
|
6 |
Germany |
7,746 |
4.40% |
|
7 |
Japan |
4,416 |
2.50% |
|
8 |
United Kingdom |
4,088 |
2.30% |
|
9 |
Vietnam |
3,845 |
2.20% |
|
10 |
Spain |
3,815 |
2.10% |
|
11 |
Poland |
3,633 |
2.00% |
|
12 |
South
Africa |
3,284 |
1.90% |
|
13 |
Colombia |
2,246 |
1.30% |
|
14 |
France |
1,984 |
1.10% |
|
15 |
Canada |
1,979 |
1.10% |
|
16 |
Czech
Republic |
1,946 |
1.10% |
|
17 |
South
Korea |
1,936 |
1.10% |
|
18 |
Italy |
1,886 |
1.10% |
|
19 |
Ukraine |
1,881 |
1.10% |
|
20 |
Romania |
1,828 |
1.00% |
|
21 |
Australia |
1,825 |
1.00% |
|
22 |
Argentina |
1,797 |
1.00% |
|
23 |
India |
1,686 |
0.90% |
|
24 |
Thailand |
1,680 |
0.90% |
|
25 |
Philippines |
1,462 |
0.80% |
China
being the most populated country, accounts for about 18% of global population. Large
population does not mean more beer consumption as India is the second country
according to population and comes on 23rd rank in this list. The United
States is second on this list and is also the second largest producer of beer
worldwide, after China.
Things
take a turn when you look at beer consumption per capita and not at total beer
consumption. The Czech Republic is on the top of the list of beer consumption
per capita. In 2020, the average Czech drank more than 181 liters of beer. This
country is known for inexpensive beer. Some travel sites claim that you can
find beer cheaper than bottled water in Czech Republic.
While
the amount of consumption varies from country to country, beer is a fundamental
part of many cultures across the globe. It is so important that in over 200
countries, ‘International Beer Day’ is celebrated on the first Friday of every
August.
Infographic by: visualcapitalist
