A Romanian drank, on average, 81 liters of beer in 2013, compared to 90 liters in 2012.
“Despite local producers’ efforts to maintain the upward trend in 2012, the beer market witnessed a significant contraction in 2013. Consumers’ low income and mistrust in the country’s economy, the fiscal pressure and bad weather conditions during the summer were the key factors leading to a decline in the local beer market last year,” association head Onno Rombouts said Tuesday.
The contraction of the Romanian beer market in 2013 caused brewers’ invested budgets, which totaled EUR62 million, to shrink by EUR10 million.
Nearly 53.2% (a year-on-year increase of 0.7 percentage points) of Romanians preferred PET-packed beer, the consumption of bottled beer fell by some two percentage points, down to 26.3%, while consumers of beer cans accounted for 17.1% of the market, up by 1.3 percentage points compared to 2012.
Beer exports rose faster than imports in 2013. The volume of beer exports reached 0.35 million hectoliters in 2013, up 50% from 2012, while beer imports increased by 25% on the year to 0.54 million hectoliters in 2013.
In 2013, Romania ranked sixth in Europe in terms of beer consumption, with 90 liters per year per capita, above the European average of 70 liters.