Japan: Liquor tax reform lifts beer sales 22% in October
October sales results for Japan's four major brewers were all in as of the 12th of November, showing that overall market volume for beer — which received a tax cut under the liquor tax reform — surged 22% year-on-year, Biggo reported.
Meanwhile, happoshu, which was hit with a tax increase, fell 36%, and "third-category beer," a beer-like beverage, plunged 85%. With the price gap narrowing, consumer demand is clearly shifting back toward beer.
Total volume for beer-type beverages fell 12%. Beer's share of the total (estimated) rose sharply to 85% from 62% a year earlier. Happoshu slipped from 14% to 11%, and third-category beer from 24% to 4%. The shift reflects each company's focus on beer, whose price premium has been blunted by the tax reform, as well as a reduction in third-category beer product lineups after brewers raised the malt ratio to "beer-ify" those products.
Under the October liquor tax reform, the tax on beer was cut by Ґ9.1 (approximately $0.057) per 350 milliliters, while happoshu and third-category beer were raised by Ґ7.26 (approximately $0.045), with the changes reflected in retail prices.
12 November, 2026
