Irish beer (alcohol) slump @DrinksIreland

News

/ 10th May 2022 /

BP Reporter

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 โ‚ฌ246m. 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 aleโ€™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 beerโ€™s market share was 0.4% in 2017.