3 | Exports and imports
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Graph 1.3. / Exports 2010 as percentage of production per country
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Sources : Ernst & Young questionnaire among brewers’ associations (2011),
The Brewers of Europe “Beer Statistics” (2010), Canadean ”Global beer trends” (2010), Eurostat.
0
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Average
percentage = 16%
NO RO CY BG CH MT ES FI SK PL HU EL AT LT TU SE
IT CR UK LV DE CZ FR LU SI PT EE DK
IE NL BE
Some 71 of the 383 million hectolitres of beer produced in
one of the 27 EU Member States is exported outside their
national borders (19% of total beer production in the EU).
This is a minor increase compared to the 2008 (70 million
hectolitres), but a signifcant recovery compared to 2009
(+8%, 66 million hectolitres).
All of the 27 Member States also import beer to a greater
or lesser extent. In 2010 the total import volume for the
27 countries was 43 million hectolitres of beer, a small
increase compared to 2008 (42 million hectolitres).
In 2009 the import volume was almost 39 million hectolitres.
The export and import fgures presented here represent
fows between countries.
The exact destination or origin of these exports and imports
(within or outside the EU-27) could not be deduced from
the fgures obtained. However, qualitative data from the
questionnaire indicates that most export partners are
located within Europe. The most important export partner
outside Europe is the United States. The majority of import
fows seem to stay within Europe as well.
Exports are especially important for the Netherlands,
Belgium, Denmark and Ireland, where the percentage
of exports compared to total domestic beer production
is high (between 49 and 59%). The reason for the scale
of exports from these countries can be explained in large
part by the fact that they are home to some important
multi-national brewing companies.
The export and import fgures illustrate that the beer market
is an open and global one. Based on Eurostat data
2
from
2008, we estimate that approximately 42% of the total
exports comprised exports within Europe
3
. The other 58%
was exported to countries outside Europe.
Although consumers in many countries prefer to drink
beers brewed domestically and locally, European beers
are appreciated worldwide, with the United States being
the most important export market, followed by Canada,
Angola, Taiwan, Russia, Equatorial Guinea and Australia
4
.
2
Source : Eurostat : EU27 Trad
e Since
1995 By SITC (DS_018995).
3
These fgures only relate to the 27 EU members. Norway, Switzerland, Croatia and Turkey are not included.
4
Source : Europeam Commission, Market Access database.
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15
The European beer market