Hospitality

By the numbers: The sobering reality behind B.C.’s craft beer boom

Falling consumption, rising costs and brewery closures are reshaping B.C.’s craft beer industry, as new data points to a post-boom reset.

By Michael McCullough /

What can bring cheer to the short autumn days ahead? For the 19th-century Bavarians who invented Oktoberfest, the obvious answer was beer! But, as these statistics show, an aging population, tariffs on aluminum and a hangover from the craft beer boom are taking some of the froth off the industry.

  • Only 37 percent of craft breweries in Canada are profitable.
  • B.C. is home to about 240 breweries, down from its  pandemic-era high. 17 licensed brewers closed their doors in the 12 months  to June 2025.
  • The province’s per-capita consumption declined 7.4 percent in 2023 from the previous year, to 57 litres per person
  • $1.032 billion in B.C. beer sales through liquor stores, 2024-25:

B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch beer sales (000s of litres)

Though microbrews represented just 13.3 percent of beer sales through liquor stores and 20.5 percent of bar and restaurant beer sales last year, 4,270 British Columbians worked in craft breweries and brewpubs as of 2023.

Sources: Government of B.C., BC Craft Brewers Guild, Beer Canada, IBISworld, BCLDB

Michael McCullough

Michael McCullough

Michael is a financial journalist based in the Cowichan Valley. He's a former managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media, BCBusiness's publisher. In 2024, he co-authored Personal Finance for Canadians for Dummies, 7th Edition (Wiley, 2024).