Global beer consumption continues to climb

Young woman drinking beer at the Munich Oktoberfest beer festival. — AFP pic

TOKYO, Jan 4 — Global consumption of beer is continuing to rise, with demand in emerging markets driving the amount that was guzzled down around the world in 2010 to a new record.

The research arm of major Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings Co. estimated last month that 182.69 million kilolitres of beer were consumed during the year, the most recent for which it was able to provide statistics.

That figure is an increase of 2.4 per cent from the previous year and marked a new record high for the 25th consecutive year. And that figure is expected to continue to increase.

Kirin said 182.69 million kilolitres of beer would be sufficient to fill the Tokyo Dome baseball stadium 147 times.

The research indicated that the amount of beer that was drunk in Europe, North America and Oceania was lower than in the previous year, which it blamed on the economic downturn following the economic crisis.

That decline was more than offset, however, by increased consumption in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

Of all the regions, Asia remained the biggest beer-consuming area over the year, accounting for 61.41 million kilolitres of the total, an increase of an impressive 5.3 per cent. Asia accounted for 33.6 per cent of global consumption and was followed by Europe with 27. 7 per cent and Latin America with 16.2 per cent.

North America was next on the list, accounting for 14.5 per cent of the total, followed by Africa, with 6.1 per cent. The Middle East accounted for around 1.9 per cent of the total.

Broken down by country, China remained the largest individual consumer of beer for the eighth consecutive year. Chinese put away 44.68 million kilolitres of ale over the year, an increase of 5.9 per cent and reflecting the nation's increased wealth and burgeoning middle class.

The United States came in second, with 24.14 million kilolitres, down 1.4 per cent. Japan placed seventh on the list with 5.81 million kilolitres, down 2.8 per cent on the previous year and a reflection of an aging population and diversifying tastes among consumers, Kirin said.

Japan did take the award for per capita beer consumption in Asia, however, with Japanese each downing an average of 45.4 litres in 2010. That figure only put Japan in 38th place in the global per capita rankings.

Of the top 25 nations on the list, consumption rose most significantly in Nigeria, up 17.2 per cent, India, which saw a rise of 17 per cent, Brazil, which registered an increase of 16 per cent, and Vietnam with a rise of 15 per cent.