In Chile, beer is enjoyed with pleasure, and although people are starting to pay more for it, the business behind it also represents an activity of considerable weight in the economy.
Indeed, the beer industry sustained 71,402 jobs in Chile in 2025, one in every 130 jobs in the country (0.8% of the national total), and its total value reached $4.97 trillion (about US$5 billion at the current exchange rate), a figure equivalent to 1.46% of GDP.
This is according to the study "Economic Footprint and Trends of Beer in Chile," prepared by Euromonitor International for the Chilean Beer Producers Association (Acechi).
The report, which compares 2025 figures with those of 2023, shows that the business is growing in value, but not in liters. According to Euromonitor, the market's value increased 3.3% annually between 2023 and 2025, "driven by price and not by volume."
Over the same period, per capita consumption fell from 57.2 to 53 liters, and total volume reached 10.73 million hectoliters, compared to 11.29 million in 2023.
In the regional comparison, which includes Argentina, Peru, and Colombia, Chile appears as the second-largest per capita consumer, with 53 liters, below Colombia (57.5 liters) and above Peru (42.1 liters) and Argentina (38.3 liters).
However, it is the country with the highest average price: US$4.87 per liter, which the study describes as the "greatest willingness to pay" among the markets reviewed. In Argentina...
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In Chile, beer is enjoyed with pleasure, and although people are starting to pay more for it, the business behind it also represents a considerable weight in the economy. Indeed, the beer industry sustained 71,402 jobs in Chile in 2025, one in every 130 jobs in the country (0.8% of the national total), and its total value reached $4.97 trillion (about US$5 billion at the current exchange rate), a figure equivalent to 1.46% of GDP. This is according to the study "Economic Footprint and Trends of Beer in Chile," prepared by Euromonitor International for the Chilean Beer Producers Association (Acechi). The report, which compares 2025 figures with those of 2023, shows that the business is growing in value, but not in liters. According to Euromonitor, the market's value increased 3.3% annually between 2023 and 2025, "driven by price and not by volume." Over the same period, per capita consumption fell from 57.2 to 53 liters, and total volume reached 10.73 million hectoliters, compared to 11.29 million in 2023. In the regional comparison, which includes Argentina, Peru, and Colombia, Chile appears as the second-largest per capita consumer, with 53 liters, below Colombia (57.5 liters) and above Peru (42.1 liters) and Argentina (38.3 liters). However, it is the country with the highest average price: US$4.87 per liter, which the study describes as the "greatest willingness to pay" among the markets reviewed. In Argentina, the liter averages US$3.28, in Peru US$3.05, and in Colombia US$2.98. "That is what a Chilean pays; it is the final retail price at the supermarket, the liquor store, the bar, for a liter of beer," explains Acechi's executive director, Andrés Toro. The premium segment accounts for 69% of the market's value, up from 68% in 2023, and the study identifies it as the engine of growth. Flavored and non-alcoholic beers, meanwhile, are still minor segments. Another finding of the report is the weight of bars and restaurants: this channel represents only 19.8% of the liters consumed, but 50.5% of the market's value.
Country | Per capita liters 2025 | 2030 projection (liters) | Average price (US$/liter)
Colombia | 57.5 | 67.7 | 2.98
Chile | 53 | 54.9 | 4.87
Peru | 42.1 | 43.4 | 3.05
Argentina | 38.3 | 40.6 | 3.28
Four Years of Decline
The moderation in consumption is not recent. A series published by Acechi on its website shows that average per capita consumption peaked in 2021 at 66.52 liters and has declined uninterruptedly since then: 59.75 liters in 2022, 56.44 liters in 2023, 54.76 liters in 2024, and 52.5 liters in 2025. However, Toro warns that the 2020-2022 period is distorted by the pandemic effect, as consumption figures spiked during lockdown, and also by the greater liquidity at the time due to the AFP pension fund withdrawals and the IFE emergency payments. The decline came after a long cycle of expansion. According to the same series, in 2005 consumption was 30.13 liters per person, it surpassed 40 liters in 2012 and 50 liters in 2019, at 52.69 liters.
The Dispute Between AB InBev and Cervecería Chile with CCU
Among the factors behind the moderation, the Euromonitor study mentions a generational shift toward a healthier lifestyle, the rise of premium, non-alcoholic, and mixed products, and regulatory barriers. The lower beer consumption is consistent with the wine trend, whose consumption fell 17.5% in 2025 to 1,560 hectoliters. Over a decade it has decreased 65%, compared to the 2,578 hectoliters of 2015. Looking ahead, however, the consultancy estimates that per capita beer consumption will rise and projected it would reach 54.9 liters in 2030, with a volume of 11.24 million hectoliters. According to the report, Chile is a mature market: it would grow 2% by 2030, compared to the 18% projected for Colombia, and would maintain second place in per capita consumption among the countries reviewed. "That has to do with a change in the beer consumer's habits, as they have turned to more premium beer. So, the willingness to pay is a bit higher, and essentially the industry has defended itself there against the drop in liters consumed," Toro notes.
The beer market moves US$5 billion. La Tercera
Euromonitor suggests that growth opportunities lie in new consumption occasions, such as non-alcoholic beers, mixed drinks, and greater consumption in bars and restaurants.
Eight Out of Ten Jobs in Commerce, Bars, and Restaurants
Of the 71,402 jobs associated with the industry, 5,933 are direct (breweries, producers, and bottlers), up 2.2% from 2023; 6,963 are indirect (ingredients and packaging), up 2.7%; and 58,506 are induced (commerce, bars, and restaurants), up 3.8%. The latter represent 81.9% of the total. According to the study, for every direct job at a brewery, another 11 jobs are sustained in the chain. The country's more than 400 breweries generate 43.2% of the sector's direct employment, and the Los Ríos region has 5.3 times the beer density of Santiago.
Andrés Toro, executive director of Acechi.
As for the economic contribution, the industry's share of GDP fell from 1.65% in 2023 to 1.46% in 2025. The report attributes this drop to the fact that the economy as a whole grew faster: nominal GDP advanced 9.8% annually over the same period. "Behind every beer shared in a bar or at a table, there are more than 71,000 people working: brewers, suppliers, waiters, merchants, and more than 400 breweries across Chile," said Acechi's executive director, Andrés Toro. He added that the study confirms that beer is not just a product: "it is an engine of employment and gathering that sustains one in every 130 workers in Chile." The industry leader made these statements during the first Chile Beer Country Awards, an event where this study was presented.
What Has Changed Since 2016
An earlier study by Acechi itself, conducted in 2018 and presented in January 2019, allows for gauging the market's evolution, though with methodologies different from those of the current report. Nearly 20% of beer consumption takes place in bars and restaurants. According to that report, beer consumption in Chile went from 25 to 46 liters per capita between 2001 and 2016, an 84% increase over 15 years. That study attributed the increase to factors such as greater consumer sophistication, the lower alcohol content of the beverage, higher consumption among women, and the rise of craft beer. In 2016, total sales in Chile would have reached 9.7 million hectoliters, considering national production of 7.2 million hectoliters and imports of 1.9 million. In 2025, according to Euromonitor, volume reached 10.73 million hectoliters. In labor matters, the 2018 study estimated total employment of approximately 64,535 people, of which 6,106 were direct employment, 5,873 indirect, and 52,555 induced. That estimate used the average of the ratios of Europe and the United States as a reference.