European Beer Trends 2025: how consumer choices are changing
Posted by ValentinaP•ink 02/23/26
In recent years, the European beer sector has shown extraordinary resilience. It has weathered a global pandemic, rising energy and raw material costs, and an unstable geopolitical environment. Today, however, the figures tell a more complex story: the market is slowing down, volumes are struggling to recover, and consumption patterns are undergoing structural change.
This is confirmed by theEuropean Beer Trends – Statistics Report 2025, published by The Brewers of Europe, which paints a picture of a sector still far from pre-pandemic levels and called upon to rethink models, channels, and value propositions.
A market that has not yet returned to pre-COVID levels
The first piece of data to start with is clear: the European beer market has not recovered the volumes of 2019.
Production in the European Union fell from around 367 million hectoliters in 2019 to 345 million in 2024, confirming a now well-established downward trend. Consumption shows a slight stabilization in 2024, but the first figures for 2025 indicate a further decline, with levels still well below the approximately 320 million hectoliters seen before the pandemic.
Even exports are no longer able to compensate: after years of growth, European beer exports have fallen for the second consecutive year, reducing one of the main drivers of growth for many producers.
Less confidence, less volume (but not less value)
Underlying these figures is a profound change in consumer behavior.
The report highlights a widespread crisis of confidence, which is prompting people to reduce their spending, especially on social and out-of-home consumption. Beer, by its very nature, is strongly associated with moments of conviviality, celebration, and socializing: when these occasions decrease, volumes are also affected.
But beware: drinking less does not mean drinking worse.
An insight that also emerged strongly during the Beer & Food Attraction 2026 was that, despite a decline in consumption, consumers are turning their attention to more premium, higher-qualityproducts. In other words, people are drinking less but better, and are increasingly willing to spend a little more on a product that communicates value, identity, and craftsmanship.
On-trade in difficulty, but central to positioning
Another critical factor concerns the horeca channel.
Before the pandemic, about one-third of beer was consumed outside the home; today, this figure is around one-quarter of the total. This is a significant reduction, especially since the on-trade is the channel that generates the most added value and contributes more than any other to building the product's image.
Pubs, taprooms, breweries, and festivals are not only places of consumption but also spaces for brand storytelling. Their suffering has a knock-on effect on the entire supply chain—from agriculture to packaging, from logistics to beer tourism—but it also makes it even more important to differentiate and position oneself correctly.
Breweries: slowdown in Europe, Italy bucks the trend
At the European level, the number of breweries is also showing signs of stabilization. In 2024, there were approximately 9,700 active breweries in the EU, with an increasingly fragile balance between new openings and closures.
Italy, however, represents an interesting exception. In 2024, the number of microbreweries exceeded 1,000 for the first time, a sign that the sector continues to hold up despite the difficulties. It is a fabric made up of small and medium-sized businesses with strong roots in the local area, capable of building value through identity, quality, and direct relationships with consumers.
Source: European Beer Trends Report 2025
Non-alcoholic beers: a big trend, but not for everyone (yet)
Among the few signs of structural growth at European level, non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beers stand out as the most dynamic category in the sector today: +25% in the last five years and over 7% of the overall market.
Yet this trend has not yet been adopted in any significant way by microbreweries. This insight emerged clearly at the recently concluded Beer & Food Attraction: the obstacle is not cultural, but technical and economic. Dealcoholization processes require high volumes and significant investments, which are often difficult for small businesses to sustain.
The result is an interesting paradox: while the market is growing, much of the craft world is watching, waiting for more accessible solutions or alternative production models.
Costs, climate, and sustainability: the challenge continues
Breweries continue to operate in a complex environment: high costs, climate pressures on agriculture, and fragile consumer confidence. At the same time, the sector is already strongly committed to sustainable transition, with investments in reducing water use, renewable energy, the circular economy, and more efficient packaging.
In this scenario, one thing is certain: success is not measured in volume, but in value.
Drink less, communicate better
The 2025 data does not only tell of a crisis, but of a paradigm shift.
For microbreweries, the challenge is not to chase quantity, but to build a clear, consistent, and recognizable positioning. Communicating quality, territory, sustainability, and identity becomes central, especially in a context where consumers are willing to spend more but demand authenticity.
Because if it is true that people are drinking less, it is equally true that those who are able to better communicate their value still have plenty of room to grow.