The global beer industry continued its structural transformation in 2024, as the world’s 40 largest brewing groups collectively produced 1,639 million hectoliters of beer, marking a 0.6% decline compared to the previous yearm (inside.beer, 16.7.2024). This trend is highlighted in the BarthHaas Report Hops 2024/2025, released on June 16 by BarthHaas, a leading supplier of hop products and services.
The top of the leaderboard remains unchanged, with AB InBev (495.5 million hl), Heineken (240.7 million hl), and China Res. Snow Breweries (108.8 million hl) continuing to dominate. Combined, these three giants account for more than half of the total beer output among the top 40 global brewers.
Significant shifts occurred further down the ranking. Baltika, Russia's largest brewer, returned to 12th place following its nationalization and separation from Carlsberg. Another Russian entrant, OPH United Breweries, formerly part of Heineken, entered the ranking in 24th place, reflecting the changing landscape in the Russian market amid geopolitical tensions.
Strategically, many multinational brewers are pivoting away from diversification and craft beer ventures to concentrate on their core international flagship brands. Molson Coors, for instance, divested several U.S. breweries and their brands to the Tilray group (inside.beer, 13.8.2024) —mirroring steps already taken by AB InBev in 2023 (inside.beer, 07.08.2023).
Other key developments included Diageo selling its controlling interest in Guinness Nigeria to Singapore-based Tolaram (inside.beer, 12.6.2024), while Carlsberg expanded beyond beer with the acquisition of BritVic, a prominent British soft drink manufacturer (inside.beer, 8.7.2024).
These changes reflect a global realignment, as macrobrewers aim for operational efficiency and profitability amid mounting challenges. Smaller and medium-sized brewers, by contrast, are struggling under increased raw material and energy costs, which are often impossible to pass on to consumers. This pressure has led to a wave of closures, consolidations, and market withdrawals around the world.
Despite slight production increases from companies like Martens (+19.8%), Baltika (+15.7%) (inside.beer, 14.5.2025), and Polar (+10.5%), the overall trajectory in 2024 underscored tightening conditions across the industry. Notably, German brewers such as Oettinger Gruppe (-12.0%) (inside.beer, 27.1.2024) and HiteJinro in South Korea (-9.7%) saw significant declines in output.
The full version of the BarthHaas Report 2024/2025 is set to be released on July 22 and is expected to provide further insight into the hop market and broader industry trends.
