German beer sales at 20-year low
BERLIN, GERMANY: Germans may be famous for their beer, but domestic sales of the amber nectar slumped last year to their lowest level since 1989, according to official statistics published on Thursday, 28 January 2010.
Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net.Credit: Chris Sharp
Sales of German beer, which include the world-famous Becks, Warsteiner and Bitburger, dropped to just under 100 hectolitres (2.2 billion gallons) in 2009, a fall of 2.8% on the previous year.
Germans have quaffed less beer every year since 2006, when the football World Cup, held in Germany that year, boosted consumption.
The statistics office gave no reason for the fall in sales but earlier in the year blamed poor weather, higher prices and a smoking ban in pubs and restaurants.
Source: AFP