Americans drank 2 billion fewer beers last year - lowest since 1999 - and boycott of Bud Light over Dylan Mulvaney tie-up is to blame (plus Gen Z-ers ditching alcohol entirely!)

 Americans drank around 2 billion fewer beers in 2023 than normalA Bud Light boycott last year saw sales of the beer drop by almost 30 percentThat - and young Americans turning away from alcohol - were key factors 

Beer sales have lost their fizz – with the boycott of Bud Light over its campaign with a transgender influencer and changing drinking habits to blame.

Sales were down 5 percent in the US for the first nine months of last year – and on track for the lowest annual level since 1999, according to industry group Beer Marketer’s Insights.

In real terms, this means shipments were on track to fall below 200 million barrels – about 9 million fewer than in 2021. That’s about two billion fewer beers drunk by Americans.

A boycott of Bud Light over its tie up with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney is a key reason. Sales of the once-leading brand are down almost 30 per cent, and beer drinkers switching to other lagers have not made up for the dramatic fall.

But changing consumer habits are also dampening sales, as younger Americans, in particular, are increasingly turning away from alcoholic drinks.

Beer shipments to the US fell more than 5 percent to September, according to industry group Beer Marketer’s Insights

The Bud Light boycott saw sales nosedive and Modelo Especial take over as America’s number one beer brand.

The firestorm, which began in April 2023, saw Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch lose $390 million in second quarter sales compared to the year before.

And by December, sales of the beer still had not recovered, despite the company teaming up with NFL stars in a marketing campaign in an attempt to boost sales.

In the four weeks ending December 9, Bud Light’s retail-store sales were down 28 percent compared with the same period in 2022, according to NielsenIQ data analyzed by consulting firm Bump Williams and cited by The Wall Street Journal.

Mexican import Modelo Especial overtook Bud Light as the top-selling US beer by dollar sales in retail stores last year, although Bud Light remains the top beer by volume.

The projected sale of under 200 million barrels of beer for this year is well down on recent years.

In 2021, the US beer industry shipped 208.6 million barrels, according to data from the National Beer Wholesalers Association. A traditional keg in a bar is equal to half a barrel.

National Beer Wholesalers Association president Craig Purser said in a speech to wholesales in October: ‘This is an industry-wide, five-alarm fire.’

As well as the Bud Light boycott, two other reasons are behind the slump. Younger Americans drink less, while those that do prefer so-called ‘hard seltzers’.

Bud Light saw sales plummet last year after a boycott following a collaboration with influencer Dylan Mulvaney

The hard seltzer market has also exploded in recent years, challenging the popularity of beer

A survey last year by data firm MRI-Simmons found Generation Z had the lowest alcohol consumption of any adult age group in the US.

Some 58 percent of legal drinking-age respondents said they had drunk alcohol in the past six months.

Sales of non-alcoholic beer shot up by 32 percent to October last year, according to NielsenIQ.

Mounting health and wellness concerns have helped fuel the spike in non-alcoholic beers, with younger drinkers more likely to opt for a zero-percent beverage, researchers said.

And among drinkers, hard seltzers are becoming increasingly popular – alongside relative newcomers including canned cocktails and malt beverages such as Boston Beer’s twisted tea.

In the US, revenues from the hard seltzer market are expected to reach $37.7 billion in 2024, according to Statista.

White Claw and Truly hard seltzers dominate the space, but other spirits-based seltzers including High Noon have been ‘collectively growing strong double-digits and gaining shelf space and occasions from beer,’ David Steinman, Beer Marketer’s Insights Vice President told Fox 10.