Today is International Beer Day, something worth celebrating in Mexico given that this country is the world’s top beer exporter and fourth largest producer.

It is also very hot in many parts of Mexico at present, which provides yet another good reason to celebrate.

Cerveceros de México, an industry group, says 11 billion liters of beer were brewed in Mexico last year, of which 3.3 billion liters were exported, or close to one-third of the national production. Most of it went to the the United States, the main export market; one of every five beers in the international market came from Mexico.

The beer industry group, which represents the big breweries and the microbreweries as well, believes Mexican beers are successful abroad because of the many brands and varieties of lager beers produced here, which are popular internationally.

According to the Secretariat of Economy, the value of beer exports amounted to nearly US $3.8 billion last year, up 34% from 2016 figures.

The beer industry has attracted a lot of investment over the past three years: more than 60 billion pesos ($3.3 billion) since 2015, according to Maribel Quiroga, general manager of Cerveceros de México.

But all this is not to say that Mexicans are huge beer drinkers. In fact, they’re not.

The average Mexican consumes 65 liters of beer per year, far behind the Czechs, who drink 143 liters annually per capita.

The International Beer Day website explains that the day is “a global celebration of beer, taking place in pubs, breweries, and backyards all over the world. It’s a day for beer lovers everywhere to raise a toast to our brewers and bartenders and rejoice in the greatness of beer!”

Time to hoist a cold chela and drink to that. Salud!

Source: El Financiero (sp)