Thursday 16 December 2021

Beer consumption per capita 1937 - 1954

As well as lots of lovely Dutch numbers, the archive document also fills in some gaps in general European statistics. Like beer consumption.

I can't recall ever seeing numbers which cover this period. The ones I have only cover from the 1970s onwards, This set shows quite a different picture to the later one.

No shock that Belgium is up there at the top. Nor that the UK was quite high. The big shocker is Ireland, which in the last few decades has always been in the top ten. Shocking to think that they used to rank below Sweden and Switzerland.

Interesting to see that Holland and the UK were the only countries to see a significant increase in consumption during the war years. Especially when compared to the three neutral countries in the tablem Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland.

Beer consumption per capita 1937 - 1954
Year Belgium Luxemburg UK Denmark Ireland Sweden Switzerland Germany Holland
1937 171 126 86 57 36 43 51 64  
1938 168 132 86 58 33 45 51 70 25.3
1939 155 115 89 59 36 46 52 27.4
1940 87 88 48 36 40 59 33.4
1941 71 100 54 34 35 47 43.2
1942 62 101 50 33 32 33 39.1
1945 59 102 56 32 35 24 42.6
1944 58 107 62 42 45 20 34.2
1945 94 22 110 51 43 37 24 21.2
1946 129 71 104 65 48 38 27 32.0
1947 148 75 100 68 48 41 37 38 28.3
1948 155 67 94 71 40 40 37 22 22.9
1949 125 77 88 75 51 39 41 29 17.4
1950 118 87 82 72 49 38 42 37 18.2
1951 115 82 67 50 37 44 47 18.3
1952 118 82 65 54 38 49.7 52 18.9
1953 120 98 85 70 38.7 49.9 56.8 21.4
1954 120   81.8 70       58.9 23.5
Source:
De Nederlandse Brouwindustrie in Cijfers, by Dr. H. Hoelen, Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, 1955, held at the Amsterdam City Archives, pages 51 and 55.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wondered if the wartime bump in consumption in the Netherlands reflected high purchases by german troops and non-military personnel, but then Belgium went the other way and I have to assume they also had a ton of Germans there too.

Anonymous said...

What are the units here, Ron? If they're volumetric you can see why British consumption might have gone up, the beer got awfully weak.

Ron Pattinson said...

Anonymous,

litres. UK beer didn't really get that weak. The lowest average OG got to in 1945 was 1034.54. That's only 2.5º lower than average gravity from the mid-1950s to the 1980s.

Ron Pattinson said...

Anonymous,

it was a combination of German troops and increased demand from the local population.

Demand collapsed in Belgium because the gravity was reduced to something ridiculous. And for a while beer could only be purchased with bread ration coupons.