U.S. beer shipments declined -2.2% in May 2022, to an estimated 14.6 million barrels, according to the Beer Institute, citing the latest domestic tax paid shipment estimates shared by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).
Year-to-date shipments through May 2022 are now down -3.3% year-over-year, to 66.9 million barrels shipped, 2.251 million fewer barrels than at this time in 2021 when brewers shipped 69.151 million barrels.
Shipments have now declined in four of the first five months of 2022 — January (-6.2%), February (-5.8%), April (-5.9%) and now May — with March (+2.9%) being the one outlier thus far.
June 2022 domestic tax paid estimates are slated to be released on July 26.