Romanians drink more beer in the first half of 2015

The Romanian beer market returned to growth in the first half of 2015, after two years of decline. The local beer market increased by 3.8% year-on-year in the first six months of this year, to 7.6 million hectoliters, according to the Brewers of Romania Association. “The favorable context created throughout the country, through a positive evolution of Romania’s economic indicators, which clearly impacted the everyday life of Romanians and their consumption decisions. Although still timid, we hope that this increase of the beer market to also be confirmed by the year-end results,” said Lucian Ghinea, president of the Brewers of Romania Association. The beer sector has a contribution of over 60% in the total tax collected by the state from the alcoholic drinks market. Almost half of a beer’s price represents taxes. With investments of over EUR 1.3 billion so far, the beer sector provides almost 70,000 jobs, directly and indirectly. Some 97% of the beer consumed in Romania is produced in the country. The Brewers of Romania Association gathers the most important beer producers in Romania, namely Bergenbier, Heineken Romania, United Romanian Breweries Bereprod, Ursus Breweries, and Martens Galati. The world’s biggest beer producer could return to Romania Brewers Association: Romania’s beer market needs oxygen Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com