Luckily for you, I was crazy enough to spend my day off yesterday scanning tables and plonking them into a spreadsheet. There's too much data to put into a single table, so I'm only going back to 1995. I've got near complete data going back to 1946. If you're interested I can publish the older numbers, too.
Where is all that UK beer going in Europe? More than a third is going to Ireland, which might come as a surprise. My guess is that it's mostly stuff like Tennent's. In second place is France. Though the amount has fallen a fair bit since its peak of almost 1.5 million barrels in 2010. Third and fourth place is pretty close between Holland and Italy. Belgium is a long way behind in fifth. For a long period after WW I it was undisputed number one.
Considering the size of its population, there's quite a lot of beer going to Sweden. Lots of Fullers, I suppose. What beer is coming herre to Holland? You see a fair bit of Thornbridge about, but I can't imagine they're exporting anything like a quarter of a million barrels.
| UK exports to the European Union 1995 - 2016 (thousands of barrels) | ||||||||||||
| Destination | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 2000 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
| Austria | 0.2 | 0.9 | 5.3 | 2.6 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 6.4 | 5.7 |
| Belgium & Luxembourg | 80.7 | 46.1 | 51.4 | 493 | 34.9 | 22.1 | 9.9 | 38.2 | 39.8 | 147.1 | 40.1 | 90.5 |
| Cyprus | 3.8 | 3 | 2.7 | 3 | 3.1 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 6.5 | 68 | 19.7 | 48.5 | 9.2 |
| Denmark | 45.4 | 42.7 | 233 | 13 | 9.6 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 11.4 | 15.9 | 8.8 | 16.1 | 18.1 |
| Finland | 8.8 | 4.5 | 3.1 | 2.4 | 5.1 | 11.5 | 9.8 | 8.3 | 12 | 14.3 | 16.6 | 14.3 |
| France | 183.7 | 512.2 | 279.4 | 526.2 | 427.6 | 1,094.4 | 919.7 | 1,299.9 | 1,443.2 | 438.0 | 501.2 | 544.6 |
| Germany | 26.9 | 24.3 | 23 | 103 | 14.6 | 48.5 | 117.8 | 16.9 | 80.2 | 34.8 | 28.5 | 58.0 |
| Greece | 8.8 | 4.4 | 4 | 5.2 | 8.4 | 19.3 | 7.8 | 10.4 | 5.4 | 6.0 | 7.1 | 7.0 |
| Ireland | 256 | 280.2 | 252.6 | 325.8 | 169.3 | 650.8 | 660.1 | 579.8 | 809.4 | 764.1 | 830.8 | 831.9 |
| Italy | 162.9 | 143.5 | 83.9 | 174.9 | 166.9 | 90.4 | 84.7 | 75.9 | 97.5 | 220.0 | 275.2 | 272.6 |
| Malta | 1 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 4.9 | 3.4 | 4.6 | 3.2 | ||||
| Netherlands | 34.8 | 39.3 | 37.8 | 17.1 | 48.3 | 10.8 | 24.7 | 108 | 263.2 | 266.8 | 230.0 | 274.7 |
| Poland | 5.6 | 13.2 | 9.2 | 7.3 | ||||||||
| Portugal | 2.1 | 2.3 | 13 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3 | |||
| Spain | 80.4 | 65.7 | 41.6 | 64.1 | 59.8 | 80.9 | 61.9 | 45.6 | 53.3 | 44.0 | 51.9 | 54.2 |
| Sweden | 18.5 | 21 | 17 | 14.1 | 26.2 | 55.8 | 50.5 | 56.2 | 73.9 | 66.0 | 62.4 | 63.8 |
| Other EU Countries | 8.1 | 6.9 | 2.3 | 10.7 | 26.0 | 52.4 | 42.2 | |||||
| Total | 909.1 | 1,187.1 | 823.8 | 1,205.6 | 975.9 | 2,121.3 | 1,979.2 | 2,271.0 | 2,983.9 | 2,076.8 | 2,181.2 | 2,297.2 |
| Sources: | ||||||||||||
| BBPA Statistical Handbook 1999, page 9. | ||||||||||||
| BBPA Statistical Handbook 2011, page 9. | ||||||||||||
| BBPA Statistical Handbook 2017, p. 18. | ||||||||||||
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8 comments:
Interesting data that prompted me to dig out a few numbers from uktradeinfo.com, the home of the UK's official trade statistics.
First, however, a caveat: any trade data involving the Netherlands have to be handled very carefully. For example, when the UK records an export to the Netherlands, is the Netherlands the end-destination, as opposed to Rotterdam being the home of a wholesaler who will eventually distribute the goods to end-users elsewhere in – or even outside – the Single Market? Likewise with goods travelling in the opposite direction: the result is that export statistics frequently overstate the Netherlands' real contribution to trade flows. The 'Rotterdam effect' is explained further by Eurostat at http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/International_trade_statistics_-_background and can also apply (to a lesser extent) to Belgian data.
Additionally, exports alone tell a one-sided story. UK exports of beer to the EU in 2016 were valued at £260 million while imports from the EU were valued at £380 million, a UK deficit of £120 million, which means that Brexit should cause some continental brewers' brows to furrow. In contrast, UK exports to the non-EU world were £325 million against imports of £106 million, a UK export surplus of £219 million, suggesting that the UK's impending ability to forge bilateral trade agreements could be a boost to British brewers. Overall, the UK was a net exporter of beer in 2016, with a surplus of £99 million. In value terms, the EU accounted for 44% of British beer exports (compared with your 63% by volume), suggesting that the rest of the world is taking more high-added-value product and that the EU is taking “industrial” beers. But one can't be sure without much more data than the very high level that is all that we amateurs have to work on.
(Part Two of comment)
The countries taking the greater value of UK exports in 2016 are interesting (all numbers are in £ - any attempt to equate them with volumes should take into account the absence of duty and VAT on exports, together with the massive mark-up at the pump that consumers experience). Despite Anonymous's comment on your 17 November post that British brewers have missed the market in the USA, it's still the top destination for UK exports. But what are the French lapping up in such quantities? Ireland you've ascribed to Tennent's, but the South Korean number is noteworthy – the retailer Lotte Mart says that more than 50% of its beer sales are imports, and British exports to South Korea in 2016 were up nearly 500% year-on-year (the UK government has been trying to take some of the credit for this and suggests that craft brewing has generated massive export growth) and were significantly higher in value than the much-bigger Chinese market, where British exports also jumped in 2016, by 440%.
Value of the UK'S beer exports, 2016 (£)
1 United States 146,867,190
2 France 72,207,068
3 Irish Republic 71,741,020
4 South Korea 64,752,742
5 Netherlands 38,540,188
6 Canada 36,646,931
7 Italy 28,502,208
8 China 20,241,645
9 Sweden 9,859,351
10 Australia 8,623,275
Apart from Guinness, I suspect that the countries that make up the major sources of the UK's beer imports can be explained away by quoting the relevant highly branded and promoted mass-market brands of lager:
Value of the UK'S beer imports, 2016 (£)
1 Irish Republic 90,068,443
2 Belgium 83,218,811
3 Netherlands 67,244,392
4 Mexico 66,866,819
5 Italy 48,560,887
6 France 39,243,130
7 United States 20,538,408
8 Germany 19,862,362
9 Spain 9,951,899
10 Czech Republic 6,475,182
The UK only imported £794 thousand from Australia last year (probably all Cooper's Sparkling Ale), which reflects the contract-brewing in the UK of “Australian” brands and, curiously, means that the country turns up in the Top Ten list of countries where the UK exports more than it imports:
Value of the UK'S beer export surplus, 2016 (£)
1 United States 126,328,782
2 South Korea 64,632,383
3 Canada 35,617,955
4 France 32,963,938
5 China 16,795,147
6 Sweden 8,889,765
7 Australia 7,829,449
8 Japan 4,759,423
9 Russia 4,504,911
10 Luxembourg 3,462,699
All data sourced from uktradeinfo.com, managed by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) Trade Statistics Unit
It's interesting to look at the source of UK beer imports from the EU. Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy and Holland. So Stella, Kronenbourg, Guinness, Peroni and Heineken.
Guinness may live to regret closing Park Royal.
I believe Wifebeater, Kronenbourg and Heiny are all brewed in UK.
StuartP,
I thought Heineken Pils for the UK market was now brewed in Holland rather than under licence in the UK.
The situation with Heineken Pils in the UK was very unusual. Everywhere else in the world, Heineken Pils was always imported from Holland. They'd brew Amstel brands locally, but not Heineken.
Imports from Holland were over 2 million hectolitres in 2016. There are only three breweries that make more than a million hl a year: Heineken, Grolsch and Bavaria.
I'll check the can next time I buy some Heineken.
I know they have breweries here, but maybe they're not using it for the Heineken-branded product. They seem to brew Kronenbourg in the UK.
Just checked the San Miguel can in my fridge: brewed at Carlsberg brewery, Northampton.
Funny old world.
Apparently, the Heiny brewery in Manchester brews Fosters and Kroney.
http://www.mcrbeerweek.co.uk/events/royal-brewery-tour-two
Asahi started moving the brewing of Super Dry (currently brewed by Shepherd Neame under licence and representing 23% of their brewing volume - that contract ends February 2018) to Italy in September, to Peroni's Padua brewery.
https://www.esmmagazine.com/europe-taste-brewed-italy-super-dry-next-year/49449
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