Beer Consumption in Hungary Grew Again Last Year

After a 10% drop in sales in 2023, reminiscent of the new coronavirus epidemic, the domestic sales of the five largest Hungarian beer producers increased by 2.8% to 5.55 million hectoliters in 2024, Sándor Kántor, director of the Association of Hungarian Beer Producers, told MTI.

This brings the pace of expansion back to around 3% in 2021 and 2022, he noted.

Although the quality of Hungarian beer is among the best in the world, thanks to HUF billions of technological and product development programs carried out by Hungarian beer producers over the years, rising production costs and fiercer international competition have affected exports, which halved last year to just 184,000 hectoliters. As a result, the volume of beer brewed in the country by the five biggest producers fell by 3.3% in 2024, 33,000 hectoliters short of the five million hectoliters a year, the director said.

He added that last year's deterioration in the competitiveness of domestic production was also reflected in a significant 20% increase in imports, which totaled 767,000 hectoliters in 2024.

The share of super-premium and premium beers in domestic sales stabilized, with combined sales reaching 31.4%, totaling 1.742 million hectoliters. The mid-range segment also performed steadily, with a 54 percent share of 2.993 million hectoliters, while the share of low-end products continued to decline in 2024. The latter segment accounted for only 7.1% of the top five producers' turnover last year, with sales of 396,000 hectoliters.

"Sales of 427,000 hectoliters of non-alcoholic and reduced alcohol products also showed renewed growth, rising to 8.1% of total sales, thanks to a 24% increase in sales of flavored non-alcoholic beers, presumably driven by the continued rise of health-conscious and responsible consumption," Sándor Kántor said.

The most sustainable packaging, kegs, reached 394,000 hectoliters in 2024, up 2.1%, while the volume of beer sold in the similarly environmentally friendly refillable glass packaging was only half of the 2018 figure, at 725,000 hectoliters.