Pandemic weighs down German beer sales again in 1st half

Sales were dragged lower by closures of bars and restaurants that stretched through winter and into spring.

In this Sept. 21, 2019 photo a guest holds glasses of beer during the opening of the 186th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany.
In this Sept. 21, 2019 photo a guest holds glasses of beer during the opening of the 186th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany.
AP Photo/Matthias Schrader

BERLIN (AP) β€” German beer sales in this year's first half were 2.7% lower than a year earlier, dragged lower by closures of bars and restaurants that stretched through winter and into spring, official data showed Friday.

German-based breweries and distributors sold about 4.2 billion liters (1.1 billion gallons) of beer from January to June, the Federal Statistical Office said. That figure doesn’t include alcohol-free beer or beer imported from outside the European Union.

Domestic sales dropped 4.9% compared with the first half of 2020 to 3.3 billion liters (872 million gallons). There were steep drops of 27% and 19.1% respectively in January and February β€” compared with the last months before the coronavirus pandemic hit Germany β€” but gains after that. Sales were up 12.4% on the year in March and 11.2% in June.

In contrast, first-half exports were higher. There was a 3.5% increase in exports to other EU countries and an 11.9% jump in sales to nations outside the EU.

Regional authorities in Germany started relaxing restrictions on restaurants and bars in the spring. New COVID-19 infections sank to a very low level in early July; they have been creeping higher since but remain much lower than in several other European countries.

German beer sales have been declining for years as a result of health concerns and other factors, but the pandemic caused an unusually sharp drop. The statistics office has said that sales inside Germany dropped 5.5% last year.

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