Belgium is well-known for its beer: Jupiler, Leffe, Duvel, and Stella Artois are just four of the most famous beers produced in the country. Over the reported period, annual beer production in Belgium peaked in 2019 at about million hectoliters. After that, production volumes have been declining and dropped to million hectoliters as of 2024. Belgium remains however among Europe’s leading beer producers.
An industry on the rise
In the last decade, the number of Belgian breweries has increased exponentially, and in 2024 nearly breweries were responsible for the total Belgian beer production. New breweries are founded every year, and between 2014 and 2023 the number of breweries more than doubled. At the same time, the number of people employed in the beer brewing industry also increased, from roughly employees in 2016 to in 2024.
Belgian beer exports
A country with close to 12 million inhabitants, Belgium produces a lot more beer than its population can drink – despite an impressive annual consumption of liters per person. Over of the beer produced in Belgium was exported abroad in 2024, mostly to other European countries. The leading destinations for Belgian beer were the neighboring countries France and the Netherlands, but further afield the United States, Russia, and China were also enthusiastic importers of Belgian beer.