Number of breweries in Germany falls again

Over the past five years, the number of breweries in Germany has fallen by 93. This corresponds to a decline of 6 percent. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there were still 1,459 breweries nationwide in 2024. Last year alone, 52 businesses had to close. The federal states with the highest number of brewery closures since 2019 are Bavaria (-50 businesses), North Rhine-Westphalia (-24), Hesse (-14) and Baden-Württemberg (-9). Contrary to the trend, the number of breweries in Saxony (+7), Thuringia (+4) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (+3) has risen slightly.

Until the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of breweries in Germany had risen continuously, by a total of more than 250 businesses since 1994. The main reasons for the increase over the past decade were the craft beer movement and the wave of start-ups it triggered.

The German Brewers Association (DBB), the umbrella organization of the German brewing industry, primarily blames the high cost pressure for the growing number of closures. Small and medium-sized breweries in particular are coming under increasing pressure, explained the President of the German Brewers' Association, Christian Weber, in Berlin. “No brewery closes overnight. Most of the breweries affected have had several years of low earnings and their reserves have been used up. The effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the energy price crisis have hit the entire industry hard. If the capital base becomes thinner and thinner and then larger investments are also pending, things can get tight for companies,” says Weber. In 2024, the situation was exacerbated by the fact that high inflation and poor consumer sentiment also affected the breweries' business, similar to the catering and retail sectors.

In view of the difficult overall situation of the German brewing industry, the DBB is appealing to the future governing coalition of the CDU/CSU and SPD to refrain from any plans that could place further burdens on the economy. The association has summarized its demands to politicians in ten points. The focus is on topics such as safe and affordable energy, reducing bureaucracy, freedom from advertising, support for the catering industry and promotion of the climate-friendly reusable system.