Brewing industry - decline in beer sales despite the warm summer of 2003

The German brewing industry is still dominated by small to mid-sized companies with regional variety, but in recent years a strong concentration process has been taking place: Some 50 large breweries with more than 500,000 hectolitres annual output now account for about three quarters of total turnover. Beer sales in terms of quantity sank in the past decade by around 9% in Germany. In 2003 they fell by 2.1% against the previous year, and taxed domestic consumption by as much as 3.4%.