Over 2 million jobs
Europe's breweries strengthen the EU economy
Despite the effects of the pandemic, the ongoing tense situation in the hospitality industry, increased production costs and general consumer restraint, Europe's brewing industry continues to make a significant contribution to the continent's economic strength. This is according to a recent report by "Europe Economics", which was published on Wednesday in Brussels by the umbrella organization "The Brewers of Europe".
The study entitled"The Contribution Made by Beer to the European Economy" comes to the conclusion that the beer industry directly and indirectly secures over two million jobs in the EU, which corresponds to around 1% of total employment in the EU (2022 data basis). This includes around 118,000 jobs directly in the brewing sector, 217,000 jobs in the supply industry, primarily in agriculture, where grain and hops are grown as raw materials, as well as 220,000 jobs in retail and around 1.5 million jobs in the hospitality industry, which is still far from overcoming the consequences of the crisis.
According to the study, consumer spending on beer reached around 110 billion euros in the EU in 2022, meaning that the industry contributed over 52 billion euros in added value to the European economy. In addition, the beer sector generates considerable tax revenues for national governments, which amounted to over 40 billion euros in 2022 alone, including 7 billion euros in excise duties, but also 12.5 billion euros in VAT from beer consumption in the hospitality sector. Despite the economic burden of high production costs, which have risen by up to 25% in breweries since 2019, the beer sector continues to be very innovative and is constantly expanding its range of brands and products, also to meet the growing demand for non-alcoholic beers. However, it remains a major challenge for the brewing industry to pass on the sharp rise in costs to retailers and restaurants.
"Breweries play an important role in the European economy, they are closely linked to Europe's regions, create jobs and promote growth. However, the contribution of the brewing industry is often overlooked," said Julia Leferman, Secretary General of the European umbrella organization "The Brewers of Europe", at the presentation of the study in Brussels yesterday. According to her, the environment for the brewing industry will remain full of challenges for the foreseeable future. "Excise duties are getting higher and higher and production costs are exploding," says Leferman. Her call: "Legislators have the task of creating a political framework that enables breweries to further increase their positive contribution to Europe's economy."
With 1,490 predominantly craft and medium-sized breweries and an annual production of 8.4 billion liters of beer, Germany is by far the largest beer producer in Europe. Added to this is the growing market for non-alcoholic beers. "One success factor of the German brewing industry is its innovative strength, which is also reflected in the boom in non-alcoholic beers. With more than 800 non-alcoholic brands brewed in accordance with the Purity Law, Germany is the world leader in this field. Soon, every tenth beer brewed in Germany will be alcohol-free," says Holger Eichele, Managing Director of the German Brewers' Association in Berlin. No other segment of the brewing industry has grown as strongly in the last ten years as non-alcoholic beers and non-alcoholic mixed beer drinks. Since 2007, the production of non-alcoholic beers in Germany has more than doubled - to 665 million liters in 2023. At the same time, more and more breweries are strategically expanding their portfolios and are also successful with soft drinks, said Eichele. "The German brewing industry is innovative, it is becoming increasingly diverse and therefore more resilient."
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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