The Netherlands is the largest beer exporter in the European Union and non-alcoholic beer is gaining in popularity

Figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) show that more than €2 billion of beer was exported last year. The United States turned out to be the largest buyer of non-alcoholic beer with a value of 121 million euros. This trend is irreversible, the Netherlands has been exporting more and more beer without alcohol in recent years.

The Netherlands has been the largest exporter of alcoholic beer for twenty years, although Belgium is getting closer and closer. The value of Belgian exports increased fivefold in the period 2000-2020. Germany and France are the third and fourth exporters of alcoholic beer in Europe.

However, Mexico is at a lonely peak and Mexicans now export twice as much beer as the Netherlands. America still loves Dutch beer, 37 percent of alcoholic beer is of Dutch origin. 42 percent of the non-alcoholic beer from the Netherlands also goes to the United States. But Mexico is winning on several fronts. At least 71 percent of beer imported into the United States in 2020 came from Mexico.

CBS numbers show that non-alcoholic beer is still gaining momentum. Since 2017, beer containing less than 0.5 percent has been classified as alcohol-free and has been included in the statistics. Until 2018, Germany was the largest exporter of non-alcoholic beer and the Netherlands took the position.

Moreover, the export of non-alcoholic beer grew faster (+83 percent) than the export of beer with alcohol (+11 percent). Bulgaria is showing remarkable growth as a non-alcoholic beer exporter to Poland, Spain and Belgium.