Kantar BrandZ has released its annual rankings of the world’s top brands: including the World’s Top 20 Alcohol Brands.
These are brands that show global dominance and longevity: with the might and marketing muscle of some of the world’s biggest alcohol companies behind them.
But there’s a sobering reality: the value of these top 20 brands has fallen a whopping 7% since 2025. This shows the challenges the category faces: and the work these brands have to do to stay strong.
Alcohol consumption is declining across major markets: especially in North America and Europe.
But it doesn’t mean the end of brand growth for brands. It will, however, shape the Top 20 in the coming years.
What’s hot? Brands that tap into ‘drinking less, but drinking better’. But, despite the focus on premiumisation, there’s also a shift towards brands that offer refreshment, sessionability - and nothing overly complicated.
“Above all, there’s a trend toward more relaxed, casual drinking occasions,” says Maggie Callender, global program director at Kantar.
“That’s one big reason why top beer brands are outperforming other Alcohol brands in our Top 20.
“But they also deserve credit for being more present across a range of new occasions like fitness, sports, and solo relaxation – while rapidly innovating to make their non-alcoholic offers taste better."
The world's top 20 alcohol brands: Kantar BrandZ
The top 10
Moutai - China's top baijiu brand
Corona - the beach beer owned by AB InBev (global) and Constellation Brands (US)
Budweiser - Anheuser-Busch's classic American beer
Heineken - the Dutch superstar lager
Modelo - AB InBev's Mexican beer
Wu Liang Ye - another booming baijiu brand in China
Michelob Ultra - AB InBev's fast-growing low carb and low cal beer, now #1 in the US
Johnnie Walker - Diageo's Scotch whisky
Brahma - AB InBev's Brazilian beer
Hennessy - the LVMH congnac
And the following make up the top 20:
Bud Light
Skol
National Cellar 1573
Guinness
Stella Artois
Victoria
Tecate
Smirnoff
Jack Daniel's
Xing Hua Cun
Ones to watch
Kantar’s methodology combines consumer perceptions with financial data: creating a holistic view of the brand’s value as a corporate asset.
That means the brands that make the list are also those with the most potential for continued growth.
Corona is the world’s most valuable beer brand for the third year running. One of its strengths is that it’s not just about the brand: but also the lime ritual behind it. It’s also worked hard to position itself as one aligned with nature.
Then there’s Guinness: the stout that has seen shortages due to demand as Gen Z embrace social media gamification (like ‘splitting the G’), while Diageo is reaping the rewards of its investment in Guinness 0.0.
And Michelob Ultra has become the top beer brand by volume in the US, thanks to its low carb, low cal positioning and a muti-year campaign around sports. Meanwhile, Michelob Ultra Zero has become the top selling and fastest-growing non-alcohol brew in the industry.
