Beer consumption in decline in the Czech Republic

Prague, Czech Republic – The world’s biggest beer drinkers are getting soft. Or at least that’s what a recent study seems to suggest. According to a survey carried out by the CCVM agency, who has been monitoring beer consumption in the Czech Republic for over a decade, the share of beer drinkers among both men and women has reached its lowest level from the past 14 years.

Around 89% of Czech men declared drinking beer in 2018 (compared to 91% in 2015 and 93% in 2005), while 49% of women occasionally indulge in a foamy pivo (10 points lower than last year).

So how much beer does that amount to? Czech men have a weekly consumption of 7.6 pints (compared to 8.8 last year) and report drinking around 3.5 times a week. The most enthusiastic beer drinkers are men aged 18 to 29 years old. Women, meanwhile, show a consumption of 2.7 pints a week (slight increase compared to the previous years) and drink the Czech national treasure twice per week.

Nearly 20% of men and 6% of women say they drink at least one beer every day. And finally, a large majority of men (85%) and women (73%) are able to name their favourite brand of beer, according to another study by CCVM agency.

Beer consumption has been declining in the Czech Republic for many years. However, Czechs remain, by far, the biggest beer drinkers in the world, with an annual consumption of 140 litres per capita last year, outranking Poles, Germans and Austrians (all below 100 litres per capita) by a wide margin.

As shown on the graph below, based on data from the World Health Organization, they also outrank all their Central European neighbours when it comes to overall alcohol consumption.