Beer sales volume in Japan FY 2013-2022

In fiscal year 2022, the sales volume of beer in Japan amounted 2.1 million kiloliters, recovering from the decline in the previous two years. Affected by declining sales, domestic beer production experienced a downward trend in the last decade. Meanwhile, beer-like beverages emerged as a popular alternative on the market. 

Low-malt beer

Beverages classified as ‘beer’, according to Japanese liquor tax regulations, contain 50 percent or more malt, with other permitted ingredients being rice, corn, starch, and potato. Due to tax hikes on beer products, breweries in Japan introduced happoshu to the market. This is a beverage with a malt content of less than 50 percent with additives such as fruits or herbs.
However, the success of low-malt beer was short-lived, as the liquor tax system was reformed to close the loophole. With the gradual reclassification of happoshu as ‘beer’ recently, domestic shipments have been showing a decade-long decline.

A new genre of beer

As a response to rising prices on low-malt beer, ‘new genre beer’, also referred to as ‘third beer’ (daisan beer), was introduced as another alternative product to the domestic beer market. Contrary to the downward trend of happoshu, however, sales of the malt-less beverage remained stable. To keep retail prices low, manufacturers substituted malt with peas, wheat, or other grains and pulses, effectively avoiding taxes on beverages containing malt. However, lawmakers have announced another reform to close the loophole and merge the tax categories of beer-like beverages.