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Remember those posts about George Younger's export trade? Well here's a follow-up with a few more numbers. For the whole of the UK, but better than nothing.

The figures confirm what was seen at George Younger: exports to Australia were greatly reduced after WW I. They dropped from almost 90,000 barrels in 1913 to just 15,000 in 1920. I think we can guess what happened. When British beer became unavailable due to the war, Australian-brewed beer replaced it. After the war a large part of British beer's market was gone forever.

Browsing through the other figures, I was surprised to see how much beer was still being shipped to India. And, while the absolute quantity might have declined post-war, the percentage of exports that went to India remained constant, at around 15%.

Also telling are the countries selected for individual inclusion. All were part of the British Empire. While these accounted for 44% of exports in 1913, in 1920 it was just 33%. Looks as if the market for British beer was moving away from the Empire.Which is reflected in a change in the countries included in the Brewers' Journal table during 1921. Belgium and France were added.


British Beer exports 1913 - 1920
barrels percentage
1920 1919 1913 1920 1919 1913
To Egypt 9,796 10,408 20,530 2.51% 4.49% 3.13%
British S. Africa 3,302 464 5,253 0.85% 0.20% 0.80%
British India 60,751 23,776 100,181 15.57% 10.26% 15.28%
Straits Settlements 22,063 7,928 37,740 5.65% 3.42% 5.76%
Ceylon 2,154 956 2,335 0.55% 0.41% 0.36%
Australia 15,459 4,812 89,013 3.96% 2.08% 13.58%
New Zealand 2,717 477 9,598 0.70% 0.21% 1.46%
Brit. West India Islands 13,688 5,161 21,901 3.51% 2.23% 3.34%
Other Countries 260,322 177,691 368,910 66.71% 76.70% 56.28%
Total 390,252 231,673 655,461 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%
Source:
Brewers' Journal 1921, page 24

I'll be coming back to exports. I've just noticed how many untabulated figures I have knocking around. I must knock them into tables.


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