'Cheers' to the Belgian brewers

13/12/2019

Belgium is the European leader in beer export rankings, and has overtaken Germany for the second year in a row.

This is confirmed by the federation of European brewers: 'Belgium exported 16.185 million hectolitres of beer in 2018'.  The gap widened with Germany, by a margin of 400,000 hectolitres, thanks mainly to AB InBev, which invested in its breweries in Leuven and Hoegaarden, thereby increasing production of its leading export products Stella Artois, Leffe and the Blanches d'Hoegaarden.

Two thirds of our exports remained within the European Union, where beer consumption, having stagnated in recent years, increased by 2.9% to 370 million hectolitres. Another impressive figure is the number of professional breweries in the European Union, which went from 9,500 to 10,154. The United Kingdom (2,030) is ahead of France (1,600), which has now overtaken Germany, who takes the third step of the podium with 1,539 breweries. Belgium jumped 16% to 304 breweries, a respectable result given Belgium's size. Good news also for employment in the sector, which rose by 8.6% in Belgium.

Enjoy with moderation!