In 2024 Germany manufactured 7.7 billion liters of sugary cola, sodas and other sweetened beverages, which equates to about 93 liters per person, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The production of these sugary drinks has remained almost unchanged compared to the previous year, falling only 0.2 percent, and has declined 0.7 percent since 2019.
At the same time, production of low‑calorie or “light” variants has grown. That year 1.5 billion liters of reduced‑calorie colas and sodas were produced, or roughly 18 liters per person. This represents a 5.7 percent increase over 2023 and a 6.1 percent rise relative to 2019.
Despite the rise in light drinks, the volume of sugary beverages still far exceeds that of their low‑calorie counterparts. Mineral water, table water, and bottled drinking water dominated the production landscape: 12.7 billion liters were produced in 2024, or 152 liters per person.
Daily sugar intake in Germany is well above the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation. WHO advises that a person with a healthy body weight, consuming about 2 000 calories per day, should limit sugar to roughly 50 grams (about 17 sugar cubes). Germany’s average sugar consumption, however, was nearly 41.2 kg per person in 2023-around 38 sugar cubes per day, more than twice the WHO guideline. The global average, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), was 26.2 kg per person per year (about 24 sugar cubes daily).
To curb high sugar consumption, WHO reported that in 2024 116 countries imposed a tax on sugary drinks. Examples of tax‑implementing nations include France, Poland, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, India, and South Africa. WHO studies indicate that a fiscal measure that increases the retail price of sugary drinks by at least 20 percent can proportionally reduce consumption of these products.
High sugar intake contributes to obesity, type‑2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. In 2022, WHO recorded that about 24 percent of German adults and 8 percent of children and adolescents (ages 5-19) were obese. Worldwide, obesity affected 16 percent of adults and 8 percent of children. The prevalence of obesity among adults worldwide more than doubled between 1990 and 2022, while the rate among children and adolescents quadrupled.
The share of overweight adults in Germany has remained steadily at 61 percent since 2006. In 1992 it was 53 percent. In 2022, 25 percent of German children and adolescents were overweight. On a global scale, 43 percent of adults and 20 percent of children and adolescents are considered overweight.