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
The November 2025 BPI reading of 25 continued the previous months’ contractionary trend, increasing one point from October 2025. For a second straight month, cider was the only segment to show any year-over-year gains with a five-point improvement to 41 — its first reading above 40 in five years.
The combination of index readings for at-risk inventory (55) and BPI (25) places the industry in contractionary territory with continued uncertainty surrounding fourth quarter retailer and consumer demand.
Looking across the segments for November:
- The cider segment at 41 is five points higher than both November 2024 and October 2025. This is also the first time the cider segment has hit a 40 index in over five years.
- The imports index at 42 is 22-points lower than November 2024 and one point lower than October 2025.
- The craft index at 15 is three points lower than November 2024 and one point higher than October 2025.
- The premium lights index at 22 is 24-points lower than November 2024 and 11-points lower than October 2025.
- The premium regular index at 23 is 18-points lower than November 2024 and 11-points lower than October 2025.
- The below premium index at 37 is 13-points lower than November 2024 and three points lower than October 2025.
- The FMB/seltzer index at 32 is two points lower than November 2024 and three points lower than October 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!