About the Beer Purchasers’ Index
By: Lester Jones, NBWA Vice President, Analytics and Chief Economist
The NBWA Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) is an informal monthly statistical release giving distributors a timely and reliable indicator of industry beer purchasing activity. BPI is the only forward-looking indicator for the industry to measure expected beer demand (one month forward) in the marketplace. Similar to the widely recognized Purchasing Managers’ Index, the BPI is a net-rising index and a leading indicator of industry performance based on survey responses from participating beer purchasers. The index surveys beer distributors’ purchases across different segments and compares them to that of previous years’ purchases. A reading greater than 50 indicates the segment is expanding, while a reading below 50 indicates the segment is contracting.
The Latest Data
Cider led all segments in December 2025 with a reading of 42, marking the second time in the last five years that Cider has registered a 40 index in consecutive months.
The combination of index readings for at-risk inventory (51) and BPI (25) places the industry in contractionary territory with continued uncertainty for the start of the new year.
Looking across the segments for December:
- The cider segment at 42 is four points higher than December 2024 and one point higher than November 2025.
- The imports index at 36 is 31-points lower than December 2024 and six points lower than November 2025.
- The craft index at 14 is 16-points lower than December 2024 and one point lower than November 2025.
- The premium lights index at 24 is 29-points lower than December 2024 and two points higher than November 2025.
- The premium regular index at 24 is 18-points lower than December 2024 and one point higher than November 2025.
- The below premium index at 40 is five points lower than December 2024 and three points higher than November 2025.
- The FMB/seltzer index at 31 is 14-points lower than December 2024 and one point lower than November 2025.
Beer Distributors
Please sign up to participate and receive the first and only advance notice of expectations for increasing or decreasing sales. Complete the form below using your company’s primary beer purchaser’s contact information. For additional information, please email bpi@nbwa.org.
Beer Distributor Expectations Sign Up
Sign up to participate and receive the first and only advance notice of expectations for increasing or decreasing sales!