Polish alcoholic beer sales fall 11.9% as zero-alcohol growth fails to offset decline

An eighth year of contraction

Poland’s alcoholic beer market deteriorated further in the first half of 2026. Sold production was 11.9% lower than in the same period of 2025, according to Statistics Poland data cited by Forsal and Do Rzeczy. The decline follows a 5.5% contraction in total beer-market volume during 2025, reported by WNP. The market has now been shrinking for eight consecutive years: between 2018 and 2025, sales decreased by more than 7.5 million hectolitres, equivalent to the annual output of three medium-sized breweries.

Consumer preferences and prices are both weighing on demand. Bartłomiej Morzycki, director general of the Browary Polskie employers’ association, said the global NoLo and Better for You trends were increasingly affecting Polish consumption. He also noted that beer is highly price-sensitive and that its retail price has risen by more than 40% in recent years. A CBOS survey cited by Forsal found that 73% of Polish adults consume alcohol, the lowest share in the study’s nearly 30-year history, while 23% report abstaining. Beer was the preferred alcoholic drink of 30% of respondents, 9 percentage points fewer than in 2019.

Zero-alcohol beer expands from a smaller base

Sold production of 0.0% beer increased by 16.2% in the first half of 2026 and by 30.1% year on year in June. Breweries have spent almost a decade developing the category, including products without sugar or calories and variants containing vitamins or electrolytes. More than half of alcohol consumers also drink zero-alcohol beer, according to the CBOS findings quoted by Do Rzeczy. However, WNP reported that growth in alcohol-free and flavoured beer is still insufficient to compensate for the broader volume decline.

The segment’s prospects are also tied to regulation. Several proposals under consideration in Poland concern the alcohol market, including amendments to the sobriety law, a possible departure from the current excise-duty roadmap, an extension of the sugar levy and a higher VAT rate for alcohol-free beer. Browary Polskie argues that the combined measures could weaken the competitiveness of beer and slow the development of products that substitute for alcohol. The industry supports 85,000 jobs and accounts for about 0.56% of Polish GDP. It annually uses around 400,000 tonnes of barley malt, 75,000 tonnes of other grains, more than 130 tonnes of hop alpha acids and about 30,000 tonnes of apples for flavoured beer, leaving farms, packaging suppliers, logistics companies, retailers and hospitality businesses exposed to lower brewery output.

Breweries target energy costs

Lower volumes do not remove the fixed cost of production lines and logistics. Electricity is required for brewing, water heating, pasteurisation, mixing, cleaning, cooling and compressed-air generation. WNP reported that motors used in these processes can consume from several to more than 100 kWh per hour. In ABB’s survey of Polish industry, 68% of companies regarded rising energy prices as a profitability risk, 23% said energy spending was clearly squeezing margins and 20% viewed it as a significant threat to business results.

ABB is working on, or discussing, efficiency projects at breweries owned by Grupa Żywiec, Carlsberg, Van Pur and Kompania Piwowarska. Browar Warka has invested nearly PLN 150 million over the past decade in automation and resource-saving systems, while biogas now supplies 20% of its process steam. Carlsberg Polska is upgrading lighting and optimising pumps and valves at its Kasztelan brewery in Sierpc. Variable-speed control can reduce energy use by 20-40% in some applications, according to ABB, and machinery upgrades can sometimes pay back within one year. With demand continuing to fall, such incremental investment is becoming a direct defence of brewery margins rather than solely an environmental measure.