Saturday 16 August 2014

Beer output in the UK and Germany in the late 19th century

I've really had my title writing hat on this week. Today's is another classic. I'm continuing my Summer of Statistics with a comparison of German and UK beer production. I think it's instructive, But numbers are lego for me. I can happily play with them all day.

The numbers cover a really crucial period. That is when Germany first passed the UK to become the largest producer of beer in Europe. The odd war year excepted, I'm sure that's been the case ever since.It's symbolic of the emergence of Germany as both an economic and political force in the last decades of the 19th century. This is also when German industrial production outstripped Britain's.

There's one really weird feature of 19th-century British beer statistics. And it explains why the figures for UK output only begin in 1881. It also demonstrates the usual source of these numbers. Between 1830 and 1880 there are no accurate figures on British beer production, just guesses. The reason is simple: because there was no tax on beer in that period. As the government wasn't recording it for tax purposes, the number wasn't recorded. It's a bit of a bummer for me as it leaves a big hole in my tables. The best you can do is make an estimate from the quantity of malt used in brewing. You see that was recorded as malt was taxed. Number of quarters times 4 is the usual formula.

On with the tables. First ones showing the number of hectolitres brewed and the percentage change from the previous year:

Change in German beer production 1872 - 1900 (hl)
year production % change year production % change
1872 32,945,000 1887 47,100,000 4.51%
1873 36,989,000 12.28% 1888 47,696,000 1.27%
1874 38,194,000 3.26% 1889 54,420,000 14.10%
1875 38,936,000 1.94% 1890 52,830,000 -2.92%
1876 38,857,000 -0.20% 1891 53,205,000 0.71%
1877 38,269,000 -1.51% 1892 54,780,000 2.96%
1878 37,425,000 -2.21% 1893 55,623,000 1.54%
1879 37,184,000 -0.64% 1894 55,369,000 -0.46%
1880 38,497,000 3.53% 1895 60,695,000 9.62%
1881 39,109,000 1.59% 1896 61,621,000 1.53%
1882 39,324,000 0.55% 1897 66,378,000 7.72%
1883 40,873,000 3.94% 1898 67,968,000 2.40%
1884 42,374,000 3.67% 1899 69,500,000 2.25%
1885 41,857,000 -1.22% 1900 70,857,000 1.95%
1886 45,068,000 7.67% 1881 - 1899 77.71%
Source:
"European Statistics 1750-1970" by B. R. Mitchell, 1978, pages 283 and 285.


Change in UK beer production 1872 - 1900 (hl)
year production % change year production % change
1881 44,955,000 1891 52,757,000 1.26%
1882 45,057,000 0.23% 1892 52,470,000 -0.54%
1883 44,784,000 -0.61% 1893 52,520,000 0.10%
1884 46,036,000 2.80% 1894 52,743,000 0.42%
1885 45,176,000 -1.87% 1895 53,574,000 1.58%
1886 45,239,000 0.14% 1896 56,284,000 5.06%
1887 46,216,000 2.16% 1897 57,791,000 2.68%
1888 46,507,000 0.63% 1898 59,218,000 2.47%
1889 49,755,000 6.98% 1899 61,214,000 3.37%
1890 52,100,000 4.71% 1881 - 1899 36.17%
Source:
"European Statistics 1750-1970" by B. R. Mitchell, 1978, page 284.

1887. That's the year German beer production outstripped the UK's. It's nice to pinpoint that. In the period 1881 to 1899 German production increased by more than double the amount of the UK's. There are some other fascinating points. Like 1885 being a year of negative growth in both countries. And 1889 being a particularly good year in both. Also there were only three years between 1881 and 1899 in both countries when beer output fell.

Here's a graph of the same information:


The next set of tables show beer production per head of population:

German beer output per head 1872 - 1900
year population output (hl) litres per head
1872 41,058,800 32,945,000 80.24
1874 42,000,000 38,194,000 90.94
1877 43,610,000 38,269,000 87.75
c1880 45,234,100 38,497,000 85.11
c1885 46,840,600 41,857,000 89.36
1888 48,170,000 47,696,000 99.02
1890 49,428,100 52,830,000 106.88
1893 50,760,000 55,623,000 109.58
1896 52,750,000 61,621,000 116.82
1900 56,356,200 70,857,000 125.73
2000 82,797,400 110,429,000 133.37
Sources:
European Statistics 1750-1970 by B. R. Mitchell, 1978, pages 283 and 285.
Deutscher Brauer-Bund Bonn
http://www.populstat.info/


UK beer output per head 1881 - 1900
year population output (hl) litres per head
1881 34,934,476 44,955,000 128.68
1885 36,015,601 45,176,000 125.43
1891 37,802,381 52,757,000 139.56
1895 39,220,114 53,574,000 136.60
1900 41,154,646 60,726,112 147.56
2000 59,511,500 55,279,000 92.89
Sources:
Brewers' Almanack 1928, p. 110
European Statistics 1750-1970 by B. R. Mitchell, 1978, page 284.
Statistical Handbook of the British Beer & Pub Association 2005, p. 7
http://www.populstat.info/


The UK figure was about 50% higher in 1881, but by 1900 Germany was closing in fast.  It's interesting to see that Germany's output per head was higher in 2000 than 1900, while the UK's was lower.


I've just about squeezed the last dropd of fun juice out of these numbers. I'll have to find some new ones.

2 comments:

Rob said...

Any idea when Germany passed UK in liters/head?

Ron Pattinson said...

Rob,

not the precise year. I don't have a complete set of German production figures. Probably in the 1920's