German brewing in the 1970’s - statistics

I had so much fun with that Journal of the Institute of Brewing article about German brewing in the 1960’s that I’m starting on another. This time from a decade or so later.

It has the snappy title “Current Lager Beer Technology in Continental European Breweries and Especially in German Breweries” and was written by H. Kieninger, who worked at Weihenstephan.

You must have noticed by now how much I love numbers. The article starts with a load of good ones. But what makes them particularly illuminating is when they’re compared with their modern equivalents. They illustrate wonderfully the changes that have taken place in the last four decades.

You’ll notice that the EU was rather smaller back in those days.

“First I want to give you some statistical figures concerning European beer production and beer consumption in the different EEC countries.

Table I shows beer production in the nine countries of the EEC in 1973 and 1974. Production was decreasing in Den mark, Italy, Belgium and in France. There was only a small increase in beer production in Ireland, The Netherlands, Luxemburg and West Germany but in Great Britain beer production climbed from 60,565 million hl per year to 63,039 million hl per year. When expressed as a percentage of the total beer production, West Germany is followed by Great Britain and both countries together are producing 68.8% — more than two-thirds of the total beer production in the EEC countries.”
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 83, Issue 1, March-April 1977, page 72.

Here’s the table:

TABLE I. Beer Production in the EEC Countries in 1973 and 1974 (x 1,000 hl).
Country	1973	1974	% of total production (in 1974)
Denmark	8,917	8,465	3.7
Eire	6,040	6,085	2.7
Great Britain	60,565	63,039	27.8
Italy	8,629	8,015	3.5
Netherlands	11,066	11,642	5.1
Luxemburg	670	692	0.3
Belgium	14,691	14,004	6.2
France	21,939	21,712	9.6
West Germany	92,467	92,785	41
Total	224,984	226,409	—

And here are the production figures for the last few years:

Beer Production 2008 - 2013 (1,000 hl)
Country	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	% in 2013
Denmark	6,474	6,046	6,335	6,590	6,080	6,166	2.76%
Ireland	8,846	8,041	8,249	8,514	8,195	8,008	3.59%
United Kingdom	49,611	45,141	44,997	45,694	42,047	41,956	18.79%
Italy	13,273	12,776	12,814	13,410	13,293	13,256	5.94%
Netherlands*	27,181	25,376	24,218	23,644	24,271	23,636	10.59%
Luxembourg	312	308	310	302	292	281	0.13%
Belgium	17,796	18,009	18,122	18,571	18,751	18,069	8.09%
France	16,267	16,326	16,290	16,167	17,132	15,491	6.94%
Germany	99,910	98,078	95,683	95,545	94,618	94,365	42.27%
total	241,678	232,110	229,028	230,448	226,691	223,241
Source:
"Beer Statistics 2014 edition", Brewers of Europe, 2014, page 7.
* Only production of members Dutch Brewers association

You can see that the combined share of the UK and Germany has fallen to 61%, while the combined share of Belgium and The Netherlands has grown from 11.3% to 18.68%. Not sure what that tells us.

But the figures are much more interesting when you combine them:

Beer Production 1973 - 2013 (1,000 hl)
Country	1973	1974	2013	% change 1974 - 2013
Denmark	8,917	8,465	6,166	-27.16%
Ireland	6,040	6,085	8,008	31.60%
United Kingdom	60,565	63,039	41,956	-33.44%
Italy	8,629	8,015	13,256	65.39%
Netherlands	11,066	11,642	23,636	103.02%
Luxembourg	670	692	281	-59.39%
Belgium	14,691	14,004	18,069	29.03%
France	21,939	21,712	15,491	-28.65%
Germany	92,467	92,785	94,365	1.70%
total	224,984	226,409	223,241	-1.40%
Sources:
"Beer Statistics 2014 edition", Brewers of Europe, 2014, page 7.
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 83, Issue 1, March-April 1977, page 72.

What a coincidence that the total amount brewed in these nine countries was almost the same in 2013 as it had been 40 years earlier.

It’s quite a complicated picture. The Netherlands is easily the winner, producing twice as much beer in 2013 as in 1974. Italy, Ireland and Belgium also saw substantial increases in beer output. In the cases of The Netherlands, Ireland and Belgium it’s undoubtedly exports that have fuelled the growth. While in Italy it’s domestic consumption, as we’ll see when we look at consumption per capita.

The apparent modest growth in German production isn’t what it seems. The 1970’s figures are just for West Germany. You really need to add the approximately 17 million hl brewed in the DDR. I don’t have the DDR output figures for 1973 and 1974, but in 1970 16,642,000 hl were brewed there and in 1976 19,300,000 hl*. Assuming the total for all Germany is around 110 million hl., there’s really been a fall of around 14%.

In the countries with the biggest decrease – Denmark the UK and France – falling domestic demand was the main driving factor. Which our next lot of figures will demonstrate.

“Table II shows beer consumption per capita in the different EEC countries for the years 1960 and 1974 and the increases calculated as percentages. If you look at the absolute values for 1974, you will find West Germany with 147 litres at the top, followed, in order, by Belgium/Luxemburg, Ireland, Denmark and Great Britain. People in the Netherlands, France and Italy seem to drink much more of beverages other than beer and if you imagine that the consumption of liquid by the human body ranges between 600 and 700 litres per year, then beer must have the best chances for the future in these latter countries.”
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 83, Issue 1, March-April 1977, page 72.

Here’s the accompanying table:

TABLE II. Beer Consumption per capita in the EEC Countries (Litres).
Country	1960	1974	Increase (%)
Denmark	71.5	123.4	92.5
Eire	50.4	130	157.9
Great Britain	85.1	114.7	34.8
Italy	5.1	14.5	184.3
Netherlands	23.8	75.7	218
Belgium/Luxemburg	113.1	135	19.4
France	35.4	44.1	24.6
West Germany	94.7	147	55.2

And here are the modern numbers:

Beer consumption per capita 2008 - 2013
Country	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Denmark	78	72	69	68	64	64
Ireland	99	91	90	86	86	79
United Kingdom	84	76	74	74	67	66
Italy	29	28	29	30	29	29
Netherlands	79	73	72	72	72	70
Luxembourg	94	86	85	85	83	83
Belgium	82	81	78	78	74	72
France	31	31	31	31	31	30
Germany	111	110	107	107	108	107
Source:
"Beer Statistics 2014 edition", Brewers of Europe, 2014, page 11.

The Germans still lead the pack, unsurprisingly. Though everywhere except France and Italy, where things are very stable, consumption is declining. I’m shocked at the UK figures. For the first time I can remember it’s now behind The Netherlands.

Kieninger got it really wrong in the case of France. Consumption of beer has fallen there over the last four decades.

Now let’s nail those two sets of figures together:

Beer consumption per capita 1960 - 2013
Country	1960	1974	2013	% change 1960 - 2013	% change 1974 - 2013
Denmark	71.5	123.4	64	-10.49%	-48.14%
Ireland	50.4	130	79	56.75%	-39.23%
United Kingdom	85.1	114.7	66	-22.44%	-42.46%
Italy	5.1	14.5	29	468.63%	100.00%
Netherlands	23.8	75.7	70	194.12%	-7.53%
Luxembourg			83
Belgium	113.1	135	72	-36.34%	-46.67%
France	35.4	44.1	30	-15.25%	-31.97%
Germany	94.7	147	107	12.99%	-27.21%
Average	59.9	98.1	66.7
Sources:
"Beer Statistics 2014 edition", Brewers of Europe, 2014, page 11.
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 83, Issue 1, March-April 1977, page 72.

In every single country except Italy consumption was lower in 2013 than in 1974. And in the countries with the largest drop – Denmark, the UK, Belgium and France  - consumption also fell between 1960 and 2013.

The figures also demonstrate how The Netherlands wasn’t really much of a beer drinking country in 1960. I wish I had the numbers for jenever consumption for comparison purposes. I would guess that has declined considerably.

It’s interesting to see how the differences between countries are flattening out. Denmark, the UK, The Netherlands, and Belgium are all pretty close and also close to the overall average.

I haven’t even got past the first page of the article yet. Prepare yourselves for a long slog.




* Brauwelt 50/2002