Sales of zero alcohol beer jumped 25% last year, new figures show.
The report by Drinks Ireland|Beer shows that the consumption of alcoholic beer has dropped, and remains below 2019 levels.
It suggests that more consumers are switching to zero alcohol variants, with the market share for alcohol free beer increasing four-fold over the last five years.
"While the category is emerging from a low base here, we see from markets like Spain and Germany that 0.0% drinks have a market share of over 10%," said Cormac Healy, Director of Drinks Ireland.
"Brewers should be allowed to market and promote these products under the strict codes already in places, and not be targeted with unnecessary additional regulation on products that can actually support the Government and industry objective of reducing alcohol misuse," he added.
Today's figures show that general beer sales have not fully recovered since before the pandemic, as consumers generally reduce their alcohol consumption.
"While consumption grew year-on-year in 2022 as pandemic restrictions were lifted, total consumption is still down over 3% compared to 2019 with per capita consumption down by 7.8%, mirroring a continued fall in alcohol consumption in Ireland over the last 20 years," the report states.
Despite this, beer remains Ireland's favourite alcohol beverage, with its market share up over 8% to 43.5%.
Nearly 60% of the beer consumed in Ireland is lager, with stout accounting for nearly 35%.
These latest figures show that total beer production in Ireland more than doubled last year, as national and global restrictions put in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic were phased out and people once again were able to return to pubs, clubs and restaurants.
The UK is the biggest export market for Irish beer, followed by the United States, France, Germany and Belgium.
