The 25 countries that drink the most beer in the world
Where do you think South Africa ranked on this list?
Beer has long been one of the favourite alcoholic beverages among South Africans, with the malty drink becoming almost synonymous with events, sports gatherings, and of course, braais.
But is South Africa's beer-drinking habit enough to have landed us in the top 25 countries that consume the most beer?
That would be a yes!
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According to Visual Capitalist, the world consumed more than 187.9 million kilolitres of beer in 2023.
China, the U.S., and Brazil alone accounted for 40% of the total beer consumed.
For the 21st year in a row, China led the world in beer consumption, claiming the top spot in 2023 by drinking 37,680 kilolitres of beer.
Visual Capitalist also reported that China's Snow Beer was the most-consumed beer by volume globally.
Asia also ranked first on a regional basis for beer consumption.
South Africa also managed to make its way onto the list. In fact, the Rainbow Nation claimed the 10th spot on the global list.
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South Africans could technically still be drinking more beer than the Chinese when you consider that, although China ranked highest in total volume, their per capita beer consumption is actually quite low.
Without further ado, here are the top 25 countries that drink the most beer globally:
- China – 37,680 kilolitres
- United States – 21,444 kilolitres
- Brazil – 15,137 kilolitres
- Mexico – 10,249 kilolitres
- Russia – 8,727 kilolitres
- Germany – 7,399 kilolitres
- Vietnam – 4,550 kilolitres
- United Kingdom – 4,432 kilolitres
- Spain – 4,419 kilolitres
- South Africa – 4,388 kilolitres
- Japan – 4,249 kilolitres
- Poland – 3,402 kilolitres
- India – 3,004 kilolitres
- Colombia – 2,551 kilolitres
- South Korea – 2,292 kilolitres
- Italy – 2,157 kilolitres
- France – 2,127 kilolitres
- Thailand – 1,849 kilolitres
- Canada – 1,842 kilolitres
- Argentina – 1,817 kilolitres
- Australia – 1,781 kilolitres
- Philippines – 1,688 kilolitres
- Romania – 1,680 kilolitres
- Ethiopia – 1,645 kilolitres
- Ukraine – 1,606 kilolitres
Rest of the World – 35,518 kilolitres
Global Total – 187,928 kilolitres
This data is based on findings by Kirin Holdings, and data published by The World Population Review about beer consumption in 2022 by country also closely represent these findings.
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Image: iStock