8 Countries that Produce the Most Beer in the World

Curious to find out which are the countries that produce the most beer in the world? Stay with us, as we list you the countries you should be thankful the most for all that beer in the world.

If you have read some of our past beer related articles, you are familiar with the origins of beer and its consumption in the world. It is the most popular and widely consumed alcoholic beverage in the world. Beer sales are four times larger than the sales of second most popular alcoholic drink in the world, wine. If you are a beer enthusiast, then you’ll also enjoy reading about the most popular beers in the world.

Although some may differ, the truth is that beer has some neat health benefits. It primarily helps with kidney function. The studies proved that people who drink beer have far less chance to develop a kidney stone. Besides kidney benefits, beer reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases, increases bone density, has some anti-aging properties and lot more. This is of course if you consume beer moderately. It shouldn’t be used as an excuse to exaggerate with it.

When we talk about the beer production, there are no surprises when it comes to the parts of the world that produce the most beer. Asia and Europe produce together almost twice more beer than the rest of the world. Total world’s beer production in 2013 was stunning 190,998,100 kiloliters.

To find out countries that produce the most beer in the world, we looked into Kirin Holdings’ annual report on beer production by country in 2014, since their annual report for last year is not available yet.  Now let’s see who dominates the world of beer production!

8. The United Kingdom

Production Volume: 4,120,400 kiloliters

Beer production in the UK is blooming, although Scots are still more dedicated to whiskey. Most popular beer styles produced in the UK include bitter, mild, brown ale and old ale. Besides the mass beer producers like Fuller’s or Boddington’s, there are a great number of small breweries that continue to spread all around the UK.

7. Japan

Production Volume: 5,468,600 kiloliters

Japan has kept its beer producing quantities on a similar lever for a few years now.  The biggest beer producers in Japan are Kirin, Asahi, and Sapporo. Japan has two categories when it comes to beer. First is regular beer and second Happoshu or beer-like beverage that has low malt quantity and lower tax than the regular beer.

6. Russia

Production Volume: 7,636,100 kiloliters

From all of the countries that produce the most beer in the world, Russia had the biggest drop in beer production. When compared to 2013, Russia has cut their production by 8,2%. Russia’s biggest beer producers are Baltika, Bochkarev, and Tinkoff.

5. Mexico

Production Volume: 8,200,000 kiloliters

Mexico has surpassed Russia as the 5^th largest beer producer in the world without increasing their production. Mexico produces close to 8,200,000 kiloliters every year with Grupo Modelo and FEMSA producing 90% of this figure.

4. Germany

Production Volume: 9,560,000 kiloliters

Although beer in Germany is something of a national drink, Germany is surprisingly just world’s 4^th largest producer. Biggest German beer producers are Oettinger, Krombacher, and Bitburger.

3. Brazil

Production Volume: 14,147,000 kiloliters

Brazil picked up the pace in the beer production and increased their productivity by 5% compared to 2013. The interesting fact is that beer brewing began when German immigrants came to Brazil in early 19th century. AmBev and Brazil Kirin (subsidiary of Japanese beverage company Kirin Brewery) stand as the country’s biggest beer producers.

2. The United States

Production Volume: 22,547,400 kiloliters

The United States’ large beer producing capacity is majorly influenced by microbreweries. According to the data from 2012, there are over 2,750 microbreweries in the United States, with number continually growing. Of course, that didn’t stop the large beer producers like Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, and Pabst Brewing from having the best-sold beer brands in the United States.

1. China

Production Volume: 44,933,300 kiloliters

The country that produces the most beer in the world without any real competition is China. For 14 consecutive years China is producing the largest amounts of beer in the world, and in 2016, it surpassed the United States as world’s largest beer market. It looks like no one can stop China anytime soon.