Global Beer Volumes Fall — But Premium and Alcohol-Free Continue to Find Growth

Global Beer Volumes Fall — But Premium and Alcohol-Free Continue to Find Growth.

Standfirst: Global beer consumption remains under pressure, but falling volumes are masking a more complex market. Premium beer, alcohol-free products and emerging economies are becoming increasingly important to where the industry finds value.

The global beer industry entered 2026 facing a familiar challenge: consumers are drinking less, but they have not stopped spending.

IWSR data for 2025 shows global beer volumes fell by around 2%, extending the pressure being felt across mature alcohol markets. The decline was particularly visible in large developed markets, while India, South Africa and Vietnam were among the countries recording notable beer growth.

Yet the headline decline tells only part of the story.

Premium-and-above beer volumes grew by approximately 1% globally during 2025. Alcohol-free beer performed considerably better, with volumes increasing around 8%.

That divergence is important.

For years, the international beer business was built primarily around increasing litres sold. Today’s opportunity is increasingly centred on extracting more value from each drinking occasion.

Consumers may be drinking less frequently, but many continue to pay for products they perceive as better, more interesting or better suited to a particular occasion.

Alcohol-free beer illustrates that change particularly clearly. It is increasingly moving away from being treated as an alternative product for people who cannot drink alcohol and towards becoming a beer occasion in its own right.

IWSR says premiumisation remains particularly visible within beer and RTDs, even as premium strategies face greater pressure elsewhere in beverage alcohol.

For brewers, this creates a more fragmented market.

Scale remains crucial, particularly for mainstream lager. But growth opportunities increasingly sit alongside the traditional volume business: premium beer, alcohol-free, speciality styles, emerging markets and products designed for new consumption occasions.

The geographic picture is changing as well.

While markets such as the US continue to contract, countries including India and South Africa are becoming increasingly significant to international brewers looking for expansion. That helps explain why multinational brewing groups are redirecting investment and acquisition activity towards faster-growing regions.

The beer industry is therefore not facing a simple decline.

It is facing a redistribution of growth.

Companies relying entirely on mature-market volume growth face an increasingly difficult environment. Those able to combine strong mainstream distribution with premium products, alcohol-free propositions and exposure to developing beer markets have considerably more room to manoeuvre.

For the international beer trade, that distinction may become one of the defining characteristics of the next decade.

Source note: IWSR 2026 global beer and beverage-alcohol market data.

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