The European Union exported 32.0 million hl of alcoholic beer to countries outside the bloc in 2025, an 11% decline from the previous year, according to Eurostat. At the same time, imports from non-EU countries increased by 6% to 5.0 million hl, highlighting weaker export momentum for European brewers in international markets.
Belgium remained the EU's largest overall beer exporter in 2025, shipping 15.0 million hl when both intra- and extra-EU trade are combined. The Netherlands followed with 14.0 million hl, while Germany ranked third with 13.0 million hl. On the import side, France led with 9.0 million hl, followed by Italy with more than 7.0 million hl.
German brewers nevertheless reported relatively stable business in their key export markets during the first half of 2026, with Russia standing out as the major exception. Official German beer shipments to Russia have virtually collapsed, falling from around 680,000 hl in the first half of 2024 to more than 84,000 hl during the same period in 2025 and to less than 8,870 hl in the first six months of 2026. Alternative distribution routes through third countries cannot be reliably quantified.
The dramatic decline in direct German shipments contrasts with a short-term increase in the customs value of beer exported from the EU as a whole to Russia. According to customs data analyzed by RIA Novosti, EU beer exports to Russia reached a customs value of EUR 4.1 million in June 2026, the highest monthly level since September 2025. Poland accounted for EUR 2.3 million of that value, while Lithuania and Belgium also recorded increases. The figures refer to export value rather than beer volume and therefore cannot be directly compared with the German shipment figures measured in hectoliters.
According to research by INSIDE Getränke based on data from the Statistisches Bundesamt, Germany's total beer exports increased by 1.9% between January and June 2026. Shipments within the European market rose by 3.9%, while exports to third countries increased by 0.6%.
Italy remained the most important destination for German beer, although volumes declined slightly to 1.88 million hl. Exports to China recovered to around 680,000 hl after a particularly weak January and returned roughly to the previous year's level. Shipments to the United States also remained stable at approximately 350,000 hl despite political and economic tensions affecting broader transatlantic trade.
The resilience of German beer exports to the United States contrasts with Germany's overall goods trade. According to the Statistisches Bundesamt, the United States remained Germany's largest export market in the first half of 2026. Still, total German exports to the country fell by 6.1% year-on-year to EUR 73.1 billion. High US import tariffs on goods from the European Union contributed to the decline, while German beer shipments remained largely unaffected.
