Non-alcohol beer continues to grow in popularity, according to new report from Drinks Ireland|Beer, which shows that non-alcoholic beer sales grew by 18% last year.
Drinks Ireland|Beer, the Ibec group that represents the drinks sector, also said that production of non-alcohol beer surged by 50% in response to rising consumer demand.
Non-alcohol beer now has a 2% market share of the Irish beer market.
Drinks Ireland|Beer noted that non-alcohol beer has reached nearly 14% market share in Spain and said that Irish producers are confident that Ireland is on course to see similar market figures of non-alcoholic products, supporting industry and government aims of increasing moderation
Today’s report shows that beer continues to be the country’s favourite alcohol drink, with a market share of 42.9% in 2023.
Domestic beer production saw a slight increase of 1.6% last year, continuing its recovery from a significant 110% surge in 2022 after pandemic restrictions.
Lager remains the dominant beer category in Ireland, despite a 2% decline to 57.6% market share, while stout increased its market share by 2.6% to 35.6%, and ale’s share grew marginally to 4.9%.
The report also reveals that per capita beer consumption in 2023 dropped, contributing to an over 11% decline since 2019.
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Ireland’s per capita alcohol consumption is now lower than in the UK and most European countries, including Spain, France, and Germany.
Beer exports grew by 11%, reaching a value of €330m, while Ireland continues to have the third-highest level of excise tax on beer.
Director of Drinks Ireland Cormac Healy said the growth of 0.0% beer in Ireland is a direct result of investment and innovation by the industry, reacting to consumer demand.
“This growth is driven by increased availability and awareness of non-alcohol beers, as well as consumer demand for moderation and balance. This continues to be a positive trend within the industry that needs ongoing support to grow,” he stated.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Healy said that while there had been a slight decrease in the consumption of beer, it reflected the overall trend of a decrease in alcohol consumption.
“We know that over the last two decades, per-capita consumption of alcohol has fallen by 30%,” he said.
“And then aligned I suppose really to that development, that consumer trend is what we see as significant growth, continued growth in the non-alcohol beer category.”
