Breweries as economic drivers

The latest Europe Economics report from October 16, 2024 shows: The beer sector is helping to boost the European economy. Breweries create millions of jobs, add value to the entire beer chain and generate billions in government tax revenue.

In 2022 alone, consumer spending on beer in the EU amounted to 110 billion euros, while the industry contributed over 52 billion euros in added value to the economy.

Beer is a strong job creator.

In 2022, the beer value chain directly and indirectly created over two million jobs in the EU. This corresponds to around one percent of total employment in the EU. This includes:

118,000 jobs directly in the brewing sector;
217,000 jobs in the supply industry, particularly in agriculture, where the raw materials are grown;
220,000 jobs in retail outlets and supermarkets;
1.5 million jobs in the hospitality industry!

1 job in the brewery creates 17 more jobs 

For every job in the brewery sector, 17 other jobs are created in the sectors dependent on the beer chain, e.g. in agriculture, in the packaging industry, in logistics and in the bars, pubs, restaurants and inns that serve beer. 

Share of value added

According to the report, beer contributes 52 billion euros in value added to the EU economy. This includes:

14 billion euros directly from breweries;
10 billion euros from the supply chain;
22 billion from the hospitality sector, reflecting the importance of beer consumption in bars, pubs and restaurants.

In addition, beer generates significant tax revenues for individual countries within the EU: €40 billion in 2022 or so, consisting of beer taxes (approx. 7 billion), VAT (approx. 12.5 billion) and sales and payroll taxes (approx. 14 billion), much of which comes from the 1.5 million people employed in bars and restaurants.

Source: Brewers of Europe
Photo: Claude Piche - unsplash