Beer wins battle with soft drinks and water, despite consumption decline

Beer consumption, which last year reached 78 litres per capita, is in line with the European average, with beer as one of the few beverages with which Romanians can keep up with Europeans.

Water consumption, for instance, is less than half the European average, with each Romanian drinking around 50 litres, against almost 120 litres in the case of the rest of Europeans.

On the other hand, domestic consumption of carbonated drinks stands at 60 litres per year, higher than the average of other large countries in the region.

At the same time, alcoholic drinks consumption revolves around 4 litres per capita, according to ZF calculations. Each Romanian drinks 24 litres of wine on average, a value that includes individually produced wine.

The overall beer market reached 17 million hectolitres last year, down 3.4% from 2009. 2010 was the second year of declining consumption.