Vietnam among top beer markets in Asia Vietnam is considered the biggest beer market in South East Asia with nearly 3.8 billion litres of beer consumed in 2016. Commercial reports from the Ministry of Industry and Trade show that each Vietnamese drank 42 litres of beer on average in 2016, an increase of 4 litres on last year. The ministry said beer industry's growth was 9.3% last year, 14.4% lower than the year-end goal because excise tax was increased by 5% to 55% last January. It will be raised to 65% next year.   Illustrative photo. Vietnamese people consumed nearly 3.8 billion litres of beer in 2016. Many brewing facilities had faced difficulties as they were forced to increase prices and pay tax arrears. Despite the prices, spending on drinking increased. It is forecast that 3.9 billion litres of beer will be produced this year, an increase of 10% compared to 2016. The beer industry hopes to produce 4.1 billion litres of beer in 2020 and 5.5 billion litres of beer in 2035. According to Canadean Group, the market research and analysis provider to the beverage industry, in 2015, average beer consumption reached 41 litres per person, behind South Korea and Japan. However, Vietnam's beer industry growth in the past five years has been high at 5.7%. Beer is favoured by many Vietnamese people. Beer accounts for 94% of total alcoholic consumption and the market will continue to growth at the annual rate of 4-5% thanks to young population and rising personal incomes. Habeco, Hue Brewery under Carlsberg and Sabeco hold huge market shares in Vietnam while Heineken is leading the premium segment. New brands that have just appeared in Vietnam recently such as Sapporo and AB InBev haven't reaped any significant results yet but their promotion campaign is posing tough competition to other brands. Vietnam is among the 25 countries with the highest rates of increase in alcohol and beer consumption in the world. It has 129 brewing facilities mostly in big cities like Hanoi, Hue and HCM City. In addition, Vietnam also imports 3 million litres and exports over 70 million litres of beer each year. dtinews.vn