Slovak Breweries Surpassed 300-million-litre Mark in Beer Production Last Year

Bratislava, 18 July (TASR) - Beer production in Slovakia rose by 3.7 percent year-over-year in 2025 to reach 308.9 million litres, while non-alcoholic beer production set a new record, the Slovak Association of Beer and Malt Producers (SZVPS) has reported. Non-alcoholic beer accounts for 8.2 percent of the beer market in the European Union (EU), which corresponds to one out of every 12 beers consumed. "In 2025, beer production in Slovakia once again exceeded the [300-million-litre] mark for the first time in three years. Despite the challenging economic situation, consolidation measures and more unstable weather during the peak beer-drinking season from May to September, we managed to surpass this milestone," said the association's head Vladimir Machalik. The share of non-alcoholic beer production exceeded 25 percent; making one in every four beers produced in Slovakia non-alcoholic or flavoured non-alcoholic. Only the flavoured category saw a slight decline of 1.16 percent, with production going down by 700,000 litres. In contrast, production of unflavoured non-alcoholic beer in Slovakia set a new record in 2025 - 18.9 million litres. "This represents a year-over-year increase of nearly 14 percent. Compared to pan-European data for 2025 and the year-on-year growth rate of non-alcoholic beer production of nearly 6 percent, the growth in Slovakia is 2.5 times faster. We can also see this in consumption: while in the European Union, on average, one out of every 12 beers consumed is non-alcoholic, in Slovakia it is roughly one out of every five," said Machalik. Domestic breweries produced 9.7 million litres more alcoholic beer, a 4.4-percent y-o-y increase. "With its 2025 results, the brewing and malting sector confirmed its position as the fourth-most important sector of the Slovak food industry. Despite the challenging situation both at home and in Europe, Slovak breweries managed to increase production and confirmed a trend of strong growth in non-alcoholic beer. However, 2026 will be a challenge for us, and domestic breweries will seek ways to remain competitive in the EU single market as well. "Beer is a naturally fermented beverage that requires raw materials from our fields - malting barley processed into malt and hops, and in addition to these, it also requires time for the yeast to do its work. All of this puts us in a more difficult position," added Machalik. am/df/jrg