Germans are drinking less beer

Residents of Germany are losing their taste for beer, according to the country's Brewers Association. Beer consumption per capita in Germany, which once ranked first in the world in consumption of this drink, fell by 3.5 liters in 2007 to 112.5 liters per year. German beer consumption has fallen for the eighth time in the last nine years.

The 80s are considered record years - then the consumption of an intoxicating drink averaged 156 liters per year per capita. The association's managing director, Peter Hahn, told the German newspaper Die Welt that demographic problems only partly explain the decline in beer consumption. In addition, the Germans began to drink more soft drinks.

In the past nine years, beer consumption in Germany has risen only once, in 2006, when the country hosted the World Cup. The Germans have long ceded the palm in beer consumption to the Czech Republic and Ireland, according to Reuters.