/ 10th May 2022 /
The continued closure of hospitality venues domestically and in key international markets resulted in another challenging year for Irish brewers in 2021 with alcohol consumption down, according to a new report.
The annual Irish Beer Market Report from Drinks Ireland|Beer shows that the pandemic resulted in a 46% fall in production between 2020 and 2021, with sales down by 1.3% and per capita consumption down by 2.3%.
Overall alcohol consumption continues to decline dramatically in Ireland.
Revenue data shows that alcohol consumption fell by 4.7% between 2020 and 2021, and declined by 9.6% between 2019 and 2021.
On a longer-term basis, alcohol consumption is at its lowest level in 20 years, down by about 30% since the peak of 2001.
The value of beer exports fell by 3% last year but were still significant at €246m. The most popular destination for Irish beer was Great Britain, with the United States in second place.
According to the report, pre-Covid around 30% of beer consumed in Ireland was stout. This fell to 25.3% in 2020 and recovered to 32.2% last year.
Lager, which was more popular during Covid as it was consumed at home, saw its market share fall last year by eight points while ale’s market share improved by one point.
Non-alcoholic beer market share rose from 1.1% in 2020 to 1.5% in 2021. For context, non-alcoholic beer’s market share was 0.4% in 2017.
Drunkaware 