Study: Canada's trade in beer

2003

Canada's trade surplus in beer with the United States has expanded significantly in recent years as Canadian beer producers have made inroads into the US market, according to a new report.

Beer from Canada is among the top-selling imported beers in the United States, ranking third after Mexico and the Netherlands.

Canada's annual beer exports to the United States rose following the implementation of the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement, reaching $270 million by 1994.

Exports stabilized at about $323 million in 2003 after peaking at $367 million in 2001.

The increase in Canada's beer exports south of the border has far exceeded the modest rise in beer imported from the United States in recent years. This has resulted in a growing trade surplus.

In 2003, Canada's trade surplus in beer with the United States stood at $265 million, almost $43 million higher than the level just four years earlier.

The surplus remained stable through most of the 1990s at about $225 million. But since 1999, it has increased 19.2%.

The report explores trends in Canada's beer trade during the past decade, particularly the extent to which imported beer has made its way into Canada.

Beer is by far the most popular alcoholic beverage among Canadian consumers. However, beer drinkers are increasingly swinging more and more to imported brands to quench their thirst.

With annual beer sales in Canada at nearly $8 billion in 2003, this growing trend has implications for Canada's domestic beer industry, which makes a significant contribution to the economy.

Beer industry accounts for more than 200,000 jobs and directly adds more than $2 billion to gross domestic product.

Nearly two-thirds of the value of all beer imported into Canada in 2003 was from three countries — Mexico, which accounted for 24%, the Netherlands (22%), and the United States (17%).

These three countries together with Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, Denmark and the Czech Republic accounted for about 98% of the value of total imports.

Mexico and the Netherlands have led the growth in Canada's beer imports, accounting for over half the increase in the annual value of beer imported into Canada over the past decade.

In particular, beer from Mexico has been virtually gushing into Canada. In 2000, Mexico replaced the United States as Canada's leading source of imported beer in terms of value.

By 2003, beer imports from Mexico had increased almost 10-fold to more than $80 million from only $8 million in 1994.

Beer imports from the Netherlands have also been rising dramatically. In 2003, they reached $75 million, more than eight times higher than they were 10 years earlier.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2201.

The study Canada's Beer Trade: A Swing to Imported Brands (65-507-MIE2006005) is now available free online in the publication Canadian Trade Review (65-507-MIE). Click on the Our products and services page, under Browse our Internet publications; choose Free, and then Trade.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact the Marketing and Client Services Section (613-951-9647), International Trade Division.