Beer sales in Romania were flat last year, at some 17 million hectoliters, according to data from the Romanian Brewers Association. Members of the Association sold 15.6 million hectoliters last year, while they invested EUR 61 million in the country. Beer consumption per capita was of 89 liters last year, down from the peak of 100 liters in 2008 and comparable to the figures in 2009 and 2010. Most of the beer Romanians drank is made locally – almost 99 percent.

“After a tough period which was mirrored in a significant contract of consumption, keeping the same volume of beer for two years in a row is the first positive sign that producers' efforts managed to fight the negative economic context and led to market stabilization, creating the premises of a future comeback in this sector,” said Hezy Ovadia, president of the Romania's Brewers Association.

Half of the volume of sold beer was in PET packaging, while bottled beer only covered 30.2 percent, a slight drop on the year before. Canned beer brought 14.8 percent of the sold volume, while draught beer, only 3.7 percent.

Imported beer stood at 0.27 million hectoliters, while exports of beer totaled 0.17 million hectoliters. Contribution to the state budget from the Association's members reached EUR 272 million last year

The beer production sector in Romania generated 76,000 jobs in 2010, and the value added by this industry segment was EUR 509 million, while contributions to the state budget from brewers were at EUR 651 million in 2010, according to an Ernst and Young study.

Annual beer sales in the European Union reached EUR 106 billion last year, from over 3,600 brewers in the EU.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Sxc.hu)