THE ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BREWING SECTOR IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

The paper presents the role of the brewing sector in the economy of the European Union countries and four other countries, which are: Croatia, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. The value added, state budget revenues generated by the production and distribution of beer as well as employment in the brewing sector were discussed in the paper. The authors also concentrated on exports and imports of beer. It was found that the brewing industry has particularly great significance in generating state budget revenues in countries with high level of fiscalism, and where the production and consumption of beer is quite high. The analysed sector assures many workplaces, especially in the distribution sphere (mainly in hospitality sector).