Hop price index

Method

Sources

25 distributors surveyed. Their online shops display a public price; they are not named.

Industry statistics, named when used:

• USA Hops (Hop Growers of America) (United States)
• USDA NASS, statistics service of the US Department of Agriculture (United States)
• BarthHaas (world market)

Price

Prices excluding VAT, in euros, per kilo of hops, excluding shipping. A price displayed including VAT is brought back to its price excluding VAT with the VAT rate of the seller’s country.

Price levels

Retail price: small packs (under 5 kg) sold by shops to brewers. Wholesale price: bags of 5 kg or more. Grower price: price paid to growers. The three levels are never mixed in the same average.

Pack size

Each pack size is calculated separately: about 1 kg, about 5 kg (4.5 to 5.5 kg), 5.5 to 25 kg, bales over 25 kg. The price per kilo of a 1 kg pack is markedly higher than that of a 5 kg bag.

Where sold

Prices in Europe (European Union, United Kingdom and Switzerland): what a European brewer pays. Prices from US shops, ex United States, excluding shipping and customs duties, are shown separately and never mixed with them.

Left out of the averages

Left out of every average: prices for which we do not know whether VAT is included, substitute hops (another variety than the one named), whole cones, and products out of stock or with unknown stock.

Calculation

Each seller counts once: their prices in the same cell are averaged first. Average and median are calculated on these values; the range runs from the lowest to the highest surveyed price.

Reliability threshold

A cell only shows a price if at least 3 distinct sellers offer the hops in stock, based on surveys less than 12 months old. Below that: “not enough prices”. Only hops from the last 3 harvests count, when the harvest is stated.

Organic

Organic: hops certified under organic farming rules. Hops in conversion count as conventional.

Exchange rates

Prices in dollars or pounds are converted into euros at the European Central Bank reference rate of the survey day.

• 1 € = 0,8446 GBP (13 October 2026)
• 1 € = 1,1188 USD (13 October 2026)

Checking

Each price is checked and approved one by one by HOPSTOCK before it counts in the index. Automatic readings are only proposals.

Limitations

• Public catalogue prices, without volume discounts or negotiation: a brewer buying in large quantities often pays less.
• The harvests surveyed differ from one seller to another, and the price of a hop changes from one harvest to the next.
• Few sellers per cell: one price more or less can move the average by several per cent.
• Many shops do not state their VAT rate: the price excluding VAT is then calculated with the country’s usual rate.
• Excluding shipping: for a 5 kg bag, shipping ranges from a few euros to more than 20 €.
• “All varieties” groups varieties that differ from one country to another: compare a specific variety instead.