The number of breweries in Germany is shrinking. In 2019, there were still 1,552 breweries in the country, the highest level of the past three decades. Last year, that figure had dropped to 1,415 operations, the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden announced on Tuesday. This represents a decrease of 53 breweries (-3.6%) compared to 2024, and a decrease of 137 breweries (-8.8%) compared to 2019.
The statisticians explained that this trend is likely also attributable to declining beer sales. In 2025, breweries and beer depots sold around 7.8 billion litres of beer, six percent less than the previous year and 15.7 percent less than in 2019. More than half of the breweries in Germany (821) are small, producing a maximum of 100,000 litres per year. However, eight major companies in Germany each produced at least 200 million litres in 2025.
Bavaria has the most breweries of any German state, 588 last year. It was followed by Baden-Württemberg with 190 and North Rhine-Westphalia with 131 breweries. The number of breweries fell compared with the previous year in most federal states, with Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Saxony-Anhalt the exceptions.
Most states also had fewer breweries last year than in the record year of 2019. The steepest declines were recorded in Bavaria (from 648 down to 588 breweries) and North Rhine-Westphalia (from 162 down to 131 breweries).
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