Romanians Returning Home sustained Beer Consumption in 2020
The beer industry, put at more than EUR1 billion a year and a consumption of 85 liters per capita a year, was less hurt in Romania than in other countries in 2020 because the decline in on-premise consumption was offset by the return of more than 1.5 million Romanians to their home country.
“About 1.5 million to 2 million Romanians returned home in 2020. I think we have a greater consumer volume. The rise in consumption is showing in convenience stores, especially in rural areas, as they were the ones that offset the losses of the hospitality industry in 2020. The on-premise channel did not impact the beer industry as much as the return of Romanians home,” said Mihai Voicu. general manager of Bergenbier, on ZF Live.
The beer market went up 0.5% in volume year on year to 16.75 million liters in 2020, although on-premise sales almost halved from EUR440 million in 2019 to EUR240 million last year, according to Brewers of Romania Association’s data.
Beer consumption rose 2.2% in 2020 on 2019, National Statistics Institute data show.
Source: ZFEnglish.com, 2021
