Beer industry brews a strong world economy

A new report has been released that assesses the beer industry’s global economic impact, with the research showing that it contributes billions of dollars to the global economy and represents millions of jobs around the world. The report, by Oxford Economics on behalf of the Worldwide Brewing Alliance, found that that one in 110 jobs is linked, directly or indirectly, to the brewing industry and in total, the industry supported US$555 billion of gross value added (GVA) to global GDP in 2019.

Some key findings have been derived from the report. Firstly, the beer industry accounts directly, through the production, distribution and selling of its product, for a US$200 billion GVA contribution to global GDP and was responsible for some 7,600,000 jobs.

The industry also has an indirect impact on the economy, through extensive supply chain interactions, the importing and exporting of goods and services, and the involvement of small, medium and large businesses, which creates value through the economy.

Finally, the brewing industry had a large impact on the downstream value chain which, through the payment of wages, saw a US$149 billion GVA contribution to GDP as well as the support of 6 million jobs in 2019.

“This landmark report puts a figure on the scale of our impact on job creation, economic growth and government tax revenue, and across a long, complex value chain, from barley fields to bars and restaurants,” said Justin Kissinger, President and CEO of the Worldwide Brewing Alliance.

“The beer sector is a vital engine of the economy. The success of the global economic recovery depends on it, and vice versa.”

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