Number of breweries in the UK 1838 - 2017

Lots of numbers this time. You may be able to tell that I've been doing some more extracting from BBPA Statistical Handbook 2018.

The trend for the last couple of decades are the exact opposite of those for pubs. That is, the nunmbers have been constantly rising.  Though a quick glance at the table will tell you that the current number of breweries is way off the record. It's only just about got back to the level of the early 1920s. Go back into the 19th century and its's way short.

Though it should be borne in mind that the vast majority of breweries in the 19th century were tiny, producing fewer than 1,000 barrels per year. In 1881, for example, around 75% of brewers were homebrew pubs.

One thing to bear in mind: these numbers are for brewing licences issued. The number of breweries thnat were actively brewing was lower.

I'm going to out on a limb here: I don't think we'll ever see the UK manage 1 brewery per 544 inhabitants again.

Number of breweries in the UK 1838 - 2017
Year	Breweries	population	pop. per brewery
1838	49,200	26,751,199	544
1870	32,287	31,555,694	977
1880	21,131	34,934,476	1,653
1890	11,364	37,802,381	3,327
1895	9,050	39,220,114	4,334
1900	6,447	41,154,646	6,384
1910	4,512	44,911,346	9,954
1914	3,647	46,089,249	12,638
1920	2,914	46,873,396	16,086
1930	1,418	46,074,000	32,492
1935	1,144
1940	840	48,216,000	57,400
1945	708
1950	567	50,290,000	88,695
1955	460
1960	358	52,807,000	147,506
1965	274
1970	177	55,928,000	315,977
1980	191	56,352,000	295,037
1990	279	57,808,000	207,197
2000	500	59,009,000	118,018
2001	448
2002	403
2003	493
2004	504
2005	570
2006	642
2007	667
2008	725
2009	745
2010	828
2011	948
2012	1,300
2013	1,490
2014	1,700
2015	1,880
2016	2,250
2017	2,430	66,020,000	27,169
Sources:
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, vol 7, 1901, page 64
BBPA Statistical Handbook 2003, p. 92
Brewers' Almanack 1955 p.68