Beer, declining consumption in Italy but positive prospects for long-term recovery

In 2024, the Italian brewing sector was faced with a context of a general increase in prices and inflation. There will be a drop in consumption and production, although more slight than in 2023; a slightly more marked decrease in imports and exports, with a consequent growth in beer produced and sold in Italy. Assobirra's report confirms the sector's ability to adapt, innovate and diversify investments, as indicated by the long-term trend that in the last ten years has seen consumption grow by over 20% and a year-on-year increase in the low and no-alcohol beer segment (+13.4% in 2024 compared to the previous year). Offering the updated snapshot of the sector is, as usual, the Annual Report 2024 of Assobirra, the reference association for the Italian beer sector.

After a decade of growth and the post-pandemic recovery, the Italian brewing sector faces a 2024 marked by new challenges that have led to a downturn in the main market indicators. The economic context - still characterised by instability and a consolidated general increase in prices - slightly affected production (-1.27%) and consumption (-1.54%) and, more markedly, exports (-7.82%), while beer imports fell by 4.95% compared to the previous year, amounting to 400 thousand hectolitres. In spite of this, the sector confirms its solidity, still investing around EUR 100 million per year in innovation, sustainability and development. The spotlight is also on the main challenges facing the Italian brewing sector: the growing weight of excise duties, for which Assobirra has long been calling for a structural reduction to encourage growth and investments in innovation and sustainability; the international debate on alcohol consumption; and finally, the ecological transition, which requires the adoption of more circular and responsible production models in a continually evolving European context.

Consumption in 2024 stood at 21.5 million hectolitres, down slightly by 1.54% compared to 2023, a slight contraction that goes hand in hand with the decline in per capita consumption (36.4 litres vs. 37.1 litres in 2023). Despite the drop compared to the historical peak of 2022 (22.5 million), 2024 consumption remains solidly above the pre-Covid threshold of 2019 (21.2 million) and shows a growth of over 20% compared to ten years ago (17.6 million), a sign of a demand that is now more structurally sound. Among distribution channels, the recovery of the out-of-home sector continues, with a further increase in 2024 compared to the previous year in terms of incidence on total consumption (38.5% vs 37.6% in 2023), partly offsetting the drop in domestic consumption in the large-scale retail channel, which is still declining (61.5% in 2024 vs 62.4% in 2023).

Germany remains the main country of origin of imports, with 44.7% of total imports, followed by Belgium (albeit with a declining share, down to 11.6%), Poland (11.4%) and the Netherlands (8.8%). Among the non-EU countries, which now account for 2.7% of total imports, the largest exporter to Italy is the United Kingdom, with about 103,004 hectolitres out of a total of 208,541 hectolitres from non-EU countries. Exports also show a lower aggregate than in 2023 (3.3 million hl in 2024, -7.82% compared to 3.6 in the previous year). In the distribution of exports, there is a slight decrease in the share to the United Kingdom (41.5% in 2024 compared to 43.9% in 2023), with a drop in volume of about 205,000 hl. On the other hand, exports to Albania (+27%), the Netherlands (+6.6%), and above all the United States, increased by 12.7%.