The beer market shrunk by almost 2 percent in 2024. This is partly due to the increase in the average price of this alcohol, which today is over 40 percent higher than in 2019. The non-alcoholic segment stands out significantly, growing in volume and value by about 17 percent annually. – “This segment, worth PLN 1.7 billion, is the hope for improving the results of the brewing industry,” evaluates Igor Tikhonov, President of the Association of Beer Industry Employers – Polish Breweries. He emphasizes that the market is under pressure from rising production costs and legislative changes.
“After several years of major turmoil in the industry and economy, 2024 brought some calm and stabilization, but this does not mean that these results were satisfactory for the industry,” comments Marcin Cyganiak, commercial director at NielsenIQ, in a conversation with the Newseria agency.
According to NielsenIQ research, beer sales fell by 100 million bottles and cans, or 1.7 percent, compared to 2023. Thus, beer sales in 2024 were the lowest in 20 years. Experts emphasize that many factors contributed to this, one of the most serious being inflation – the average price of beer increased by 43 percent since 2019 mainly due to the increase in excise duty—currently, its rate is 27 percent higher than five years ago, and by 2027 it will increase by another 10 percent plus. The sharp increase in production costs, which continues to negatively impact the industry, also contributed to the rise in beer prices on the store shelf.
Sales drops were recorded despite relatively good weather and the European Football Championships, which could have given hope for slightly better results. Last year’s statistics show that the most significant drops were in the category of strong beers (by 3.8 percent) and alcoholic lagers (by 3.1 percent).
Non-alcoholic beers, which returned to the growth path of a few years ago. Together with so-called special beers, which are more expensive on the one hand but offer consumers more variety and innovative choices on the other.
Most notably, the non-alcoholic beer segment stood out. This part of the market bounced back significantly after a downturn in 2023. Non-alcoholic beers increased by 17.4 percent in terms of volume and by 16.8 percent in value. In 2024, sales amounted to PLN 1.7 billion, PLN 250 million more than the previous year. In terms of value, the NoLo segment already accounts for 7.5 percent of the entire beer market.
The brewing industry remains optimistic about future trends and market developments, but they are concerned about some legislative change initiatives. An example of such initiatives mentioned by the director of the association is the proposal to introduce official minimum prices at a level that would cause a 40-50 percent increase in beer prices, with no changes in the prices of vodka and other spirits. In his opinion, such action would shift consumption to strong alcohol, especially the cheapest vodkas and monkeys.
According to the latest research from ESPAD 2024, the percentage of teenagers who bought beer decreased from 54 percent in 2003 to 19 percent in 2024.
The Industry recently suffered, due to this, Igor Tikhonov recently proposed the initiative to lower the permissible blood alcohol content of drivers to 0.0 per mille to avoid any doubt that driving is not permitted after drinking alcohol stated the general director of ZPPP-Polish Breweries. The Road Safety Partnership and the Road Traffic Safety Center joined the coalition for the 0.0 per mille limit (instead of the current 0.2 per mille). The coalition partners jointly appealed to the government administration and members of parliament for legislative changes in this area.
