Nigerians love to drink alcohol, especially beer.
According to the latest publicly available market research report by Canadean (now known as Global Data), a data intelligence platform, Nigeria led other African nations as the largest beer consumer. With an average beer consumption of 12.28 litres per person per year, Nigeria is followed by Uganda (11.93 litres) and Botswana (7.96 litres). Due to our large population size (over 200 million), this translates into higher volumes of beer consumed per year.
Key takeaways:
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Nigerian love for alcoholic beverages has sustained the growth in the brewery sector, as the Food, Beverage and Tobacco industry had been growing until Q3’22.
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Nigeria’s largest brewer—Nigerian Breweries (NB), raised prices in 2021 to support revenue growth and cushion the impact of rising costs.
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The third quarter of 2022 was particularly challenging for brewers as demand fell due to flooding and high inflation.
Moreover, of Nigeria’s $6.5 billion alcoholic beverage industry (2016 estimates), beer accounts for 55% ($3.75 billion), followed by spirits (30%), and wines (15%). According to Statista, revenue from beer sales is estimated at $4.57 billion (i.e., ₦2.2 trillion at ₦440/$1). That’s roughly 12% of Nigeria’s ₦17 trillion 2022 budget. The market is also expected to grow by a cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.45% between 2022 - 2025.
A shortened quote from one of my favourite poets, Charles Bukowski, might explain why we love drinking so much. It goes, “...If something bad happens, you drink in an attempt to forget; if something good happens, you drink to celebrate; and if nothing happens, you drink to make something happen.”
This sums it up for Nigerians.
Nigerian research house Afrinvest estimated that in terms of revenues, the brewery industry rebounded from a year-on-year (y/y) contraction of 1.5% in 2020 (₦578.2 billion) to a 35% y/y boost in 2021 to ₦780 billion (highest on record). These figures represent the aggregate revenues of the three largest brewers in Nigeria: Nigerian Breweries, International Breweries and Guinness. Collectively, these brewers account for about 98% market share of revenues in the country.
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