End of a Love Affair?

Per-capita consumption of beer in Germany, once the world's largest consumer of the drink, fell by 3.5 liters in 2007 to 112.5 liters -- the eighth decline in the last nine years.

Brewery Association managing director Peter Hahn told Die Welt newspaper on Monday, Dec. 24, that demographics were partly to blame for the fall from a peak of 156 liters in the 1980s.

Statisticians reckon that by 2050 the group of people past the age of 60 in Germany will be twice as high as those under 20.

But Germans are also drinking more non-alcoholic beverages, industry figures show.

Only once in the last nine years did beer consumption in Germany rise -- in 2006 when it hosted the soccer World Cup.

Breweries could be hurt

According to figures compiled by the Japanese brewing company Kirin, Germany is third on the list of per capita beer consumption, behind the Czech Republic and Ireland.

Hahn predicted the decline would begin to hurt the 1,284 breweries in Germany -- more than in any other country. While no closures were likely in the immediate future, there would probably be mergers and acquisitions, he said.

"We are going to see an increased concentration in favor of the larger brewing companies," Hahn said.

He also predicted little or no improvement in the year ahead. "We will have to get used to long-term declines in consumption figures," Hahn told the paper.