Italy’s brewing sector is an increasingly important part of the Italian agrifood industry which has consolidated its image abroad, thanks to a product that is on par with that of other countries with a strong beer tradition.
In 2012 too, the growth trend that began in 2010 for Italy’s brewing industry continued. In absolute terms, production in 2012 was the second best result after the all-time high of 13,673 million hectoliters in 2003 (AssoBirra’s 2012 Annual Report).
The 1,990,000 hectoliters exported in 2012 are the second best result of all time, after the 2,086,000 hectoliters of 2011, and are still twice as much as in 2007 (1,068,000 hectoliters), indicating that beer produced in Italy is now a strong representative of the widely appreciated “Made in Italy” agrifood sector in the international market. In terms of destinations, compared to 2011 the portion absorbed by the EU market, with the United Kingdom holding the lion’s share with over 1 million hectoliters, decreased (from 74%to 66%); among non-European countries, noteworthy performance was seen in the United States (over 217,000 hectoliters, +16% compared to 2011), Australia (over 20,000 hectoliters, +53.8%) and South Africa (almost 205,000 hectoliters, +66%), all of which are English-speaking countries with a strong beer-drinking tradition.
Italy strengthened its standing among beer-producing countries, at tenth place and with 3.5% of the total compared to the 3.4% of 2011.
The leading producer remains Germany, which alone accounts for almost 25% of total production, followed by the UK (10.8%), Poland
(10%), Spain (8.5%), the Netherlands (6.2%),Belgium (4.8%), the Czech Republic (4.7%),France (4.4%) and Romania (4.3%). Trailing behind Italy remain countries with a consolidated beer-drinking tradition such as Austria, Denmark and Ireland.
