The number of breweries in Germany has declined to 1,415 in 2025, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). This figure represents a decrease of 53 breweries (-3.6%) compared to 2024, and a more significant drop of 137 breweries (-8.8%) when compared to 2019, a year when the sector reached its highest point in three decades.
This downward trend is reportedly tied to a falling rate of beer consumption. Destatis reported that in 2025, breweries and beer warehouses across Germany sold approximately 7.8 billion liters of beer. This represents a 6.0% decrease from the 8.3 billion liters sold in the previous year, and a reduction of 15.7% compared to 2019.
Regionally, Bavaria maintained its status as the federal state with the highest volume of breweries in 2025, with 588 establishments. Baden-Württemberg followed with 190, and North Rhine-Westphalia logged 131. Generally, most federal states saw a reduction in brewery numbers compared to the previous year, and the count in most states was also lower than the 2019 record. The clearest declines were noted in Bavaria (falling from 648 to 588 breweries) and North Rhine-Westphalia (from 162 to 131). Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Saxony-Anhalt were noted exceptions to the declining trend.
The reduction has been felt across nearly all market sizes. More than half of all German breweries (821) are small operations, producing a maximum of 100,000 liters of beer annually. Conversely, only eight businesses belonged to the largest class, producing at least 200 million liters of beer last year.
