Beer Consumption Charts

Felix Salmon looks at beer consumption around the world, especially in the developing countries:

How do we know that the world is getting happier? It’s drinking more beer! Here’s the chart, from a new paper by Liesbeth Colen and Johan Swinnen:

What we’re seeing here is largely the China effect — and, more generally, a world where poor people, once they reach a certain minimum income, start hitting the hops.

The U.S. is holding its own, but Germany is cutting back some.