A report by Oxford Economics has shown that Nigerian consumers spent $2.29 billion on beer in 2019.
Titled: “Beer’s Global Economic Footprint”, and commissioned by World Brewery Alliance (WBA), the study assessed the beer sector across 70 countries (including Nigeria), covering 89 per cent of beer sold worldwide, by volume.
The Nigerian volume accounted for 0.86 per cent of $266.9 billion global sales and showed that of the 70 countries surveyed, Nigeria ranked 30th in global beer sales during the period.
According to the study, globally, the beer sector accounted for $555 billion gross value added (GVA) contribution to global GDP, and supported 23 million jobs. In total, the beer sector supported 0.8% of GDP across the 70 countries or $1 for every $131 of GDP generated in these economies in 2019 and 1 in every 110 jobs created.
The report further showed that brewers and their downstream value chain made and supported $262 billion in tax payments to governments around the world. Of the total tax contribution, $109 billion are made up of Value Added Tax (VAT) and excise duties paid on beer sales.
“To put that in context, the beer sector’s GVA contribution to global GDP is comparable with Belgium’s economy in 2019 ($533 billion) and the number of jobs supported is equal to the entire Italian labour force (23 million people).
“While in high-income countries the beer sector contributed an average 0.9% to national GDP, in low-income economies, the equivalent figure is 1.6%. Similarly, the beer sector supports a proportionally larger number of jobs in lower-income than in high-income countries (1.4% vs 1.1% of national employment). In 2019, we estimate brewers paid some $16 billion in wages and salaries to their employees,” Andrian Cooper, CEO, Oxford Economic, said at the virtual launch.
The report estimated that in 2019, beer distributors, retailers, and the hospitality industry selling beer directly created a $117 billion value-added contribution to GDP, were responsible for seven million jobs and contributed $40 billion in tax payments.
“At a moment when the global economy seems to be on the cusp of recovering, ‘Beer’s Global Economic Footprint’ highlights our potential to invigorate the economy through our core work. Brewers aren’t just building back. We have the ambition to build forward. Our aim is to leverage our role as brewers, employers, and partners, to continue to responsibly contribute to our communities and society. This report strengthens the foundation to move that vision forward,” said Justin Kissinger, President & CEO, Worldwide Brewing Alliance (WBA).
“Beer volumes are weighted heavily towards the on-premise, which has yet to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels. Many beer markets will see a strengthening of at-home consumption until hospitality returns to pre-pandemic levels and consumer comfort levels rise. E-commerce for beer is forecasted to be a strong future driver across the onmi-channel segment in particular,” Brandy Rand, Chief Operations Officer, Americas, The IWSR, said.