The new economic indicator: beer sales

Singapore

FIGURING out where an economy's going to go can be tricky. You could look at GDP growth trends, home sales, company earnings forecasts - and still have only a vague idea. But there's another gauge that is perhaps a more accurate indicator: beer sales.

Beer sales in much of the developed world including the US and Western Europe have lost their froth in recent years. They've also been falling flat for more than a decade in Japan, and are at a more than 60-year low in Australia as ageing consumers turn to whiskey and wine. In contrast, the suds are surging in many developing Asian nations on rising incomes, younger populations and improving distribution.