Russian Beer Export Revenue from China Falls 2.2-Fold to $4.1 Million
Russia earned $4.1 million from beer exports to China in January-August 2026, 2.2 times less than a year earlier. Chinese beer shipments to Russia moved in the opposite direction, rising by one-third to $39 million.
Russian sales continue their decline
Russia exported $4.1 million worth of beer to China in January-August 2026, a 2.2-fold decline from the corresponding period of 2025, according to marketpower.pro. The result extends a downturn already visible in the annual data: Russian beer exports to China fell to $10.9 million in 2025 from $24 million in 2024.
Monthly figures show that the weakness persisted at the end of the reported period. Russian export revenue from China amounted to $489,500 in August, compared with $895,100 in August 2025 and $912,300 in July 2026. The August result was therefore below both the year-earlier level and the immediately preceding month.
Chinese beer gains ground in Russia
Trade in the opposite direction expanded sharply. China supplied $39 million worth of beer to Russia in the first eight months of 2026, one-third more than the $29.2 million recorded in January-August 2025. This was more than nine times Russia’s beer-export revenue from China during the same 2026 period.
Chinese revenue from beer shipments to Russia nevertheless eased in August, falling to $6.4 million from $6.7 million a year earlier. The decline in that single month did not reverse the substantial increase accumulated over January-August. Annual figures show the same broader trend: Chinese beer supplies to Russia rose to $43.2 million in 2025 from $29.96 million in 2024.
Competitive pressure in the Chinese market
China purchased beer from 54 countries during the reported eight-month period. Germany, the Netherlands and Spain were its largest suppliers, according to marketpower.pro. That broad supplier base gives Chinese buyers access to established European brewing industries and places Russian exporters in direct competition with numerous foreign brands and distributors.
The available figures document the contraction but do not identify its causes, such as changes in volumes, prices, product mix, logistics or consumer demand. For Russian breweries and distributors, the fall from $24 million in 2024 to $10.9 million in 2025, followed by a further 2.2-fold decline in January-August 2026, signals that rebuilding sales in China will require more than a short-term monthly recovery. At the same time, the growth of Chinese beer shipments to Russia shows that bilateral trade in the category is becoming increasingly one-sided. Russia’s separate whisky exports offer a contrast: revenue exceeded $1 million in the first seven months of 2026, while physical shipments increased by 41% to 82,000 litres, reaching what experts described as a historical high previously recorded in 2024.
