Beer at the famous Oktoberfest in Munich will be 15 percent more expensive next fall than during the 2019 edition. A liter can then cost almost 14 euros. Water is also not cheap. The price of it can reach almost a dozen per liter.
The costs for pub bosses are much higher than the last time the beer festival could go on due to increased energy prices, wages and overall inflation. They have to partly pass that on in the price for a mass, as a jar of beer of exactly one liter is called during the festival.
The municipality of Munich determined that a mass may cost between 12.60 and 13.80 euros. In 2019, that was 10.80 euros to 11.80 euros. Economic advisor and boss of the Oktoberfest, Clemens Baumgärtner, considers it particularly important that the psychological limit of 14 euros per liter has not been exceeded. “But the beer prices are still pretty high.”
In addition to the higher costs for pub bosses, the materials and craftsmen needed to build the large beer tents during the Wiesn, as the Oktoberfest is actually called, have also become more expensive.
The prices for the beer brewed especially for the Oktoberfest are always a sensitive point in Munich. But the price increase for beer is far from only going on in Bavaria. For example, Heineken warned in its quarterly figures in April that beer is likely to become even more expensive in the near future. Due to the war in Ukraine, prices for raw materials such as grain and energy have risen sharply.
Not only beer is expensive at the Oktoberfest, which lasts from September 17 to October 3. A liter of water will cost 9.67 euros on average, 80 cents more than in 2019. The Munich municipality does not set the exact prices for drinks during the festival, but only checks whether they are proportional.
Oliver I. Kjeldsen has a corporate finance and extensive expertise in company audit. He grants us amazing insights on taxation, international affairs and friendly advice on nearly any topic of interest. His email is oliver.kjeldsen@economicinform.com
