Beer consumption in Germany has dropped to its lowest level since reunification, prompting concerns about the future of the country’s brewing industry.
According to data from the Federal Statistical Office, German breweries sold 34.5 million hectoliters of beer between January and May 2025. This marks a decrease of nearly 7 percent compared to the same period last year.
The decline continues a long-term trend, with consumption falling consistently over the past decade. In 2013, Germans drank an average of 107 liters of beer per person annually. By 2023, that figure had dropped to 88 liters.
Industry leaders warn that the current drop poses a serious threat to breweries. Volker Kuhl, CEO of the Veltins brewery, told Welt newspaper, “This is a historic fact. It’s worrying and means a real struggle for survival for many breweries.” Germany currently has around 1,500 breweries, but this figure could drop drastically over the next decade.
“Lots of sun, warm, and dry — the weather in the first half of the year should have helped brewers and the restaurant industry. But it didn’t,” he noted.
“As with the restaurant and retail sectors, the poor consumer sentiment is having a major impact on breweries’ business,” added Holger Eichele, CEO of the German Brewers’ Association.
Even large-scale events such as the 2024 European Football Championship, which had been expected to boost sales, failed to reverse the decline.
Eichele suggests that health concerns and an aging population are major factors behind the shift in drinking habits. He notes that young people are drinking less as well, supported by a 2023 Statista survey that found just 24 percent of Germans aged 18 to 28 regularly drink beer, compared to 38 percent of the previous generation.
Industry leaders make no note, however, of the changing demographic in the country due to mass immigration.
Among people aged 20 to 39, more than one in three (34 percent) had a migration background in 2024. Among children, that figure is even higher. In 2021, the percentage of school children in Hamburg who have a migration background surpassed half (51.4 percent) for the first time.
Nearly 6.5 million people living in Germany in 2024 immigrated after 2015, many of whom arrived from predominantly Muslim nations where alcohol consumption is actively discouraged or considered haram.
Brewers say traditional drinking customs are fading. Veltins sales director Rainer Emig told Welt that while beer with meals remains common, people are no longer drinking additional rounds during social events.
Non-alcoholic beer sales have increased sharply, but not enough to arrest the slide. Deutsche Welle reported that production of alcohol-free beer in Germany has more than doubled in the past decade. However, attempts to replace traditional beer culture with alcohol-free alternatives have had limited success. In 2023, Munich’s first alcohol-free beer garden, Die Null, opened but closed at the end of the summer and did not reopen.
