Global beer sales go up for 27th year running

London, August (ANI): Consumption of beer around the globe increased for the 27th consecutive year in 2011, according to a report.

For the tenth year running it was China, who showed the greatest thirst for the alcoholic drink, making up a quarter of the world's annual beer sales.

The US remained at second place with sales in the country making up 11.7 per cent of the overall figure.

Party-loving Brazil, with a population of just under 200 million, ranked third with Russia coming in at fourth position.

The report released on Wednesday by Kirin Holdings, the research arm of the major Japanese brewery, has attributed the rise to robust demand in Asia and other developing countries, the Daily Mail reported.

It found that 250 billion litres of beer were produced last year, 3.7 percent up from 2010.

China was the world's largest beer producer - accounting for about 25 percent - for the 10th consecutive year.

The United States saw a slight decrease in their production from the year prior but still ranked second at 11.7 per cent, followed by Brazil, Russia and Germany in third, fourth and fifth place respectively.

In 2010, 45 billion litres of beer were sold in China with US sales accounting for less than half of that amount at 25 billion litres.

The fastest growing markets of beer are in Asia and Africa. (ANI)