Local breweries are continuing to prosper in a declining beer market, with sales of bottled beers growing by 16% a year, according to a report from the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA).

The report reveals local brewers produced more than a million hectolitres brewed for the first timein 2009, with sales growth of nearly 4% in a year of deep recession.

While the overall UK beer market declined by 4.2% last year, the local brewing sector achieved an impressive 3.75% increase in volume sales. Three-quarters of all local brewers recorded volume growth in 2009 and on average, they achieved a 17% increase in turnover.

The number of pubs sourcing local beers through SIBA's direct delivery scheme (DDS) grew by 12% - a reflection of local cask ale's "unique ability to help pubs weather the recessionary storm".

Once again, sales of bottled beer from SIBA members' beers - primarily for the off-trade - have grown, as brewers increasingly see the value of packaging their beers as a specialist category. Packaged volumes were up 16% last year, to take a 15.6% share of total sales.

SIBA's chief executive Julian Grocock, said: "Over 60% of our members were founded after 2000, so the current recession is the most severe they have traded through. That the vast majority managed a sales uplift last year and are anticipating the same in 2010 speaks volumes about the resilience and resourcefulness of the UK's quality independent brewers."

This year's report from SIBA contains the organisation's pre-election manifesto, which highlights the current Government's ‘schizophrenic' approach to the local brewing industry.

The list leads with a commitment to retaining Progressive Beer Duty (PBD), introduced in 2002, and is followed by a series of other fiscal strategies. such as cancelling the beer duty escalator, freezing beer duty and considering lower duty rates for lower strength beers.

Grocock said: "The Government's support for PBD is welcomed and has helped the formation and growth of many smaller brewers, whom it claims to support. Yet, with its punitive taxation policies, which have meant a 20% rise in beer duty over the last two years, it appears set on destroying them.

"We urge whoever is elected in May to take a fresh look at the local brewing industry."