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.