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German brewery count falls to lowest level since 2016 as beer sales slide

· Business DEU

The number of operating breweries in Germany fell by 53 to 1,415 in 2025, marking the third consecutive annual decline and the lowest total since 2016. The 3.6% drop from the previous year leaves the country with 137 fewer breweries than its recent peak of 1,552 in 2019.

Beer sales also contracted, with volumes falling 6.0% to roughly 7.8 billion litres, down 15.7% from 2019. Bavaria remained the top brewing state with 588 facilities, followed by Baden-Württemberg at 190 and North Rhine-Westphalia at 131. The steepest losses came in Bavaria, which shed 60 breweries, and North Rhine-Westphalia, which lost 31.

More than half of all German breweries produce no more than 100,000 litres annually. Exceptions to the national decline were rare: Saxony-Anhalt added one brewery to reach 23, while Thuringia lost three, dropping to 46.

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zeit.de DEU Tag des Bieres: Immer mehr Brauereien schließenfinance.yahoo.com USA Brewery numbers in Germany drop again in 2025zeit.de DEU Tag des Bieres: Bundesweit weniger Brauereien - Plus in Sachsen-Anhaltn-tv.de DEU Sinkender Bierkonsum : Immer mehr Brauereien schließen - niedrigster Stand seit 2016n-tv.de DEU Weniger Brauereien in Thüringen
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dw.com DEU Alemanha vê cervejarias fechando, mas aposta no "sem álcool"

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