Sales of German brewers down during COVID-19 crisis

Beer sales in Germany dropped to historically low levels in 2020, down by 5.5 percent year-on-year, or 508.2 million liters, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Monday, reported Xinhua.

Closed bars and restaurants and canceled festivals as well as other major events due to COVID-19 restrictions caused a notable year-on-year decline in beer sales, with double-digit drops in April and May, according to Destatis.

"In the summer months, there was a slight recovery in beer sales due to relaxed restrictions" in Germany, Destatis said.

However, renewed tightening of COVID-19 restrictions from fall 2020 onwards amid the second COVID-19 wave caused beer sales to "fall dramatically again in November," Destatis said. Sales in November dropped by 14.1 percent year-on-year.

Germany's largest brewery group, Radeberger, performed slightly better than the overall market, recording a decline in sales of 4.7 percent last year, the company announced recently. Group revenues dropped by eight percent to 1.6 billion euros (1.9 billion U.S. dollars).

"2020 was already a pitch-black year for brewers -- and 2021 is also starting under difficult omen," said Guido Mockel, spokesman for the management board of Radeberger Group, in a statement.

Beer sales in Germany had been falling continuously for years. Since 1993, the amount of beer sold had decreased by a total of 2.5 billion liters, or 22.3 percent, according to Destatis.