Brazil still remains the largest beer market in Latin America and the third largest market by volume in the world, with 13.8 billion liters (10 billion considering only retail volume sales) consumed in 2014, behind only China and the US. Brazilians drank more beer in 2014 compared to the previous year, helped by the World Cup, reversing the falling trend.

Regular beer still dominates the sector, but there is an ever-increasing interest in premium and craft beer. Brazilians are drinking more no/low alcohol; with the population ageing it is expected to see a consumption increase of this type of beer.

This report examines the Brazilian beer market, including: lager, draught beer, and other beers (including ale, stout, and porter).

The market size is further divided into three segments – strong/premium, standard strength, and light/no/low alcohol. Market value and volume sizes are based on retail (off-trade). Ciders and fruit beers are excluded from the market size.

The ABV for each segment is as follow:

• Light/no/low: 0%-3.5%

• Standard: 3.6%-5.4%

• Strong: 5.5% +

Since 2015, according to the government’s definition, a special beer is a beer with 75% or more of malted barley in its composition. In Brazil, the term ‘special beer’ is commonly used to refer to craft and imported beers. It can also be used to describe any beer other than Pale Lager, the most common style in Brazil.

The correct spelling of the most common type of draught beer in Brazil is Chope, although some brands use different variations such as Brahma Chopp.