Russia overtakes Germany to become Europe’s largest beer producer

Russia returns to the global top five

Russia became Europe’s largest beer producer in 2025 and returned to the five leading producing countries worldwide, according to the annual report by German brewing industry specialist BarthHaas. Russian breweries produced 90.098 million hectolitres, placing the country behind China, the United States, Brazil and Mexico.

The result moved Russia ahead of Germany, traditionally one of Europe’s largest brewing markets. However, Russia’s higher position did not reflect growth in domestic output. Production was slightly below the approximately 90.83 million hectolitres reported for 2024, a decline of about 0.732 million hectolitres.

Germany records Europe’s steepest decline

Germany dropped to sixth place with production of 79.238 million hectolitres. Kommersant, citing the BarthHaas report and TASS, said German output decreased by 4.7 million hectolitres from 2024, the largest contraction among European producers. Germany accounted for 4.2% of global beer production in 2025.

The gap between Russian and German output reached 10.86 million hectolitres. Russia’s rise in the ranking therefore resulted from relatively stable production at home combined with a much sharper decline in Germany. The figures indicate that Russia retained a large production base even as the broader European brewing industry contracted.

Global output falls as mature markets weaken

Worldwide beer production, including non-alcoholic varieties, declined by 0.7% to 189.6 billion litres, according to figures reported by Kommersant. European production fell by 1.6% to 51 billion litres, while Asian output decreased by 1.2% to 59 billion litres. North American production contracted by 1.9% to 34 billion litres, and Australia and Oceania recorded the largest regional fall, at 2.4%.

China remained the world’s largest producer, responsible for more than one-sixth of global volume. BarthHaas does not expect the market to recover in 2026. Managing director Thomas Reiser forecast stable volumes with a tendency towards a slight decline, saying growth in Africa and South America would be offset by weaker production in Europe and North America. The company expects this balance to maintain pressure on the hop market, an important consideration for growers, brewers and raw-material suppliers planning production and procurement.