After two years of stagnating beer consumption in the Czech Republic, domestic consumer interest has gone up. Some 16.38 million hectoliters of beer were consumed in the Czech Republic last year, nearly 200,000 hectoliters more than the year before, according to the Czech Brewery and Malt Association (ČSPS). The number of breweries also increased, Prague.tv writes.

Czech breweries also produced more beer and non-alcoholic beer in 2016, for a record 20.48 million hectoliters. Compared to 2015, production increased by 1.9 percent. Non-alcoholic beer production at more than 20 Czech breweries was up 17 percent to reach a total of 555,000 hectoliters.

“After a long time, we have succeeded in expanding production not only due to export but also to increased consumption in the Czech Republic,” ČSPS chairman František Šámal said, according to daily Hospodářské noviny. 

The average beer consumption per Czech remains the same, on an average of 143 liters. Foreigners and tourists drank 750,000 hectoliters of beer last year, which was a 19 percent increase over the previous year. 

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