Africa’s Beer Boom: Morocco Slips as Continent Leads Global Production Growth

Africa recorded the strongest global growth in production, with over 160 million hectoliters of beer in 2024, an increase of 6.7% compared to the previous year. This growth was driven by South Africa, Angola, and Ethiopia, whose productions increased by 8 to 35%. Regarding the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, Tunisia produced more than 1,933,000 hectoliters of beer last year, Algeria more than 1,500,000 hectoliters, and Egypt 900,000 hectoliters. Morocco comes in fourth place with 818,000 hectoliters, a decrease of about 17,000 hectoliters compared to 2023. Lebanon and Jordan follow, with 384,000 and 247,000 hectoliters of beer, respectively. Palestine closes the list with only 4,000 hectoliters.

Global production recorded a slight decrease of 0.3% in 2024, reaching around 1.9 billion hectoliters, the report indicates. Globally, China dominates the ranking of the largest beer producers, with more than 340 million hectoliters, or more than 18% of global production. It is followed by the United States, with around 185 million hectoliters, and Brazil with more than 148 million hectoliters, or about 8% of global production. Production on the European continent recorded a slight increase of 1.1% in 2024, reaching more than 514 million hectoliters, while that of the European Union member countries decreased by 1%, to around 340 million hectoliters. On the American continent, production fell by 1.3% compared to the previous year, reaching 617 million hectoliters. This decrease is due to the approximately 4.8% drop in production in the United States.

In Asia, beer production decreased by 2.3%, reaching 565.4 million hectoliters. This is due to the decline in production in China, which represents about 60% of Asian beer production. However, the report forecasts a stabilization of production during the current year. "The difficult economic conditions experienced, and the risks resulting from the escalation of geopolitical tensions and trade conflicts initiated by the United States, could lead to a decline in consumer and producer confidence, which would complicate the international beer trade in general," explains the executive director of the BarthHaas company.