Spirits volume has surpassed wine and beer with sales exceeding 200 million cases in 2012, according to 2013 Spirits Trends in Adult Beverage (TAB) report from Illinois-based Technomic.
The spirits volume has increased by 3.2% or 6.3 million 9l cases to 205 million 9l cases in 2012, as against the 2011 figures.
The increase in volume was primarily due to premiumization, where consumers explored expensive spirits categories such as single malt Scotch, Cognac, imported vodka and Irish whiskey.
Among different spirits, vodka reported highest growth of 5.8%, followed by American straight whiskey and tequila with a growth of 5.2% and 3.8%, respectively.
Technomic research director Eric Schmidt said despite slow economy, the spirits industry continued to grow in volume and dollars.
"Spirits was actually the fastest-growing segment of adult beverage in 2012, outpacing wine and beer, and we anticipate that trend continuing in 2013," Schmidt added.
