Given how many different beer brands line the shelves at grocery stores (and even more so in specialized beer shops), it may surprise many to learn that just six major brewing companies produce over half of the world’s beer.
The results are highlighted in a chart published on Friday by Statista, which cited its source of the info as being the hop specialist BarthHaas. The 2020 study looked at beer output along with the percentage share of global production for leading brands.
Happy #BeerDay! Since 2008, a global celebration of the world's most consumed alcoholic beverage takes place on the first Friday in August. You might be surprised to find out that over 25% of global beer production comes from just one company – @abinbev. https://t.co/K5aFFxPyAq pic.twitter.com/1Uojh2vyCK
— Statista (@StatistaCharts) August 6, 2021
Some of the most recognizable brands in the U.S. — Corona, Budweiser, and Bud Light — all fall under the ownership of AB InBev. (Though it should be noted that AB InBev does not own the marketing and distribution rights to Corona stateside.) With so many popular beers under its umbrella, AB InBev accounted for 25.7 percent of the total beer production in 2020.
Heineken, which has a value of $5.6 billion, came in second place with less than half that amount (12.2 percent). Meanwhile, Molson Coors produced 4.6 percent of the world’s beer in 2020. That may soon decline, with recent news of major shakeups at the company, which saw 11 of its labels being sold.
The full breakdown of the top six brewing companies is best viewed in Statista’s graphic. But with Friday also being International Beer Day — and as the celebration’s organizers remind us — it’s important not to get too bogged down by the details and risk forgetting to “raise a toast to our brewers and bartenders and rejoice in the greatness of beer.”