Alcohol-free beer becoming increasingly popular in Germany

German breweries produced a record volume of around 700 million litres of non-alcoholic beer in 2024, more than double the volume of 20 years earlier, Lebensmittelpraxis reported, citing figures published by the German Brewers’ Association on the occasion of the German Beer Day on 23 April.

Non-alcoholic beers now account for 9% of the total retail beer supply, making them the third most popular beer type in Germany, just behind Pils (48%) and lager (11%).

This growth is mainly due to improvements in taste quality and new, gentle alcohol removal technologies. Brewers’ ability to innovate has been playing a key role in this development, Christian Weber, President of the Association said.

At the same time, the German beer industry is also having to react to a long-term trend: domestic sales of alcoholic beer last year were only 6.8 billion litres, the lowest level since 1993. In contrast, non-alcoholic beer is becoming an increasingly attractive choice for people with a more conscious, active lifestyle – and has become one of the sector’s biggest hopes.