Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in the world. With the global beer market valued at over $790 billion dollars worldwide, it’s no wonder that beer is something of a universal language, unifying drinkers across oceans. With such widespread interest, it’s not surprising, then, that news outlets rush annually to aggregate the most popular brews from all corners of the globe.
Despite varying methodologies — and varying results in turn — the common overlaps among each list offer compelling insight into which beers resonate around the world. International brews finding widespread popularity in the U.S. such as Guinness, Corona, and Heineken sit squarely in the top 10 of many lists, representing Ireland, Mexico, and the Netherlands, respectively; others lists feature beers less commonly found in the States but with obvious acclaim in other countries.
Below are three different takes on the world’s most popular beers, each with different compilation methods.
The Top 10 Most Valuable Beers
According to new data from Brand Finance, a leading brand valuation consultancy firm, Heineken has overtaken Corona Extra to become the world’s most valuable beer brand. Valued at $7.6 billion as of July, the Dutch producer experienced 10 percent growth since last year, knocking Corona down a slot despite the brand’s own 6 percent growth. The Mexican lager still isn’t far behind, though, with a value of $7.4 billion.
“It seems like beer drinkers are not necessarily drinking more, but instead, are drinking better,” says Henry Farr, associate director of Brand Finance. “Beer brands that are delivering on high-quality premium lagers seem to be doing well.”
- Heineken ($7.6 billion)
- Corona Extra ($7.4 billion)
- Budweiser ($6.7 billion)
- Bud Light ($5.9 billion)
- Modelo Especial ($4.2 billion)
- Snow ($3.5 billion)
- Kirin ($3.2 billion)
- Asahi ($2.8 billion)
- Coors ($2.7 billion)
- Miller Lite ($2.7 billion)
The Top 10 Most Popular Beers On Untappd
The popular beer app’s methodology is more unusual, relying on the number of times users have “checked in” a particular beer to determine popularity. Given its self-selecting global audience, the list skews heavily toward American and European offerings. This year, Guinness continues to lead the charge by over one million check-ins, proving that the macro stout is a crowd favorite even in the beer nerd community.
- Guinness Draught
- Bud Light
- Miller Lite
- Heineken
- Lagunitas Brewing Co. IPA
- Traditional Lager, Yuengling Brewery
- Coors Light
- Bell’s Brewery Two Hearted IPA
- Corona Extra
- Stella Artois
The Top 10 Best-Selling Beers in the World
Drawn from the most recent sales data available (2017), these are the most popular beer brands in the world according to global sales by volume as estimated by GlobalData Consumer.
For more up-to-date data based on production output and grouped by beer companies (versus individual beers) check out this list of the 40 biggest beer companies in the world.
10. Coors Light
Along with being the second-best-selling beer in the U.S., Coors Light slid into the No. 10 spot as a top-selling beer brand in the world in 2017.
9. Corona
Corona was the top beer import in the U.S. in 2017. With an estimated 28.8 million hectoliters sold worldwide, this clear-bottled beer leads the charge of Mexican beers around the world.
8. Yanjing
Yanjing recently reported nearly 9 percent growth in revenue year-over-year, reaching $850 million in 2018. The successful brand will likely hold its place on this list for years to come.
7. Harbin
Harbin shipped an estimated 29.9 million hectoliters of beer in 2017. Claiming to be China’s oldest brewery, this massive brand is among the Anheuser-Busch InBev fleet.
6. Heineken
This Netherlands-based brewer continues to be popular the world over, selling an estimated 34.3 million hectoliters of beer in 2017.
5. Skol
With an estimated 35.1 million hectoliters of beer sold in 2017, this AB InBev-owned brand primarily produced in Brazil remained in the top five for another year.
4. Bud Light
America’s No. 1 light lager of choice didn’t even make bronze worldwide. But its estimated 44.8 million hectoliters sold in 2017 still earns it a top five spot in global beer sales.
3. Tsingtao
This stellar seller from China sold an estimated 49 million hectoliters of beer in 2017.
2. Budweiser
“Bud Heavy” may be less popular than its little brother Stateside, but the “King of Beers” reigns around the world. Beer drinkers bought an estimated 49.2 million hectoliters of Budweiser.
1. Snow
Snow holds down the top spot for another year. It sold an estimated, and astounding, 101.2 million hectoliters of beer in 2017, beating out runner-up Bud by more than double the volume. Not bad for a brew you’ve likely never had a sip of — Snow is only sold in China.
