Global consumption of spirits in both domestic and travel retail markets marked a slowdown in 2012, according to International Wine & Spirit Research (IWSR), a UK-based provider of data on wine, spirits and ready-to-drinks.
In 2012, global spirits consumption grew by 1.6% to 3.07 billion nine-liter cases compared to 6.5% growth in 2011.
Asia-Pacific region (domestic markets) was mainly responsible for the growth. Spirits consumption grew 2.7% to 1.92 million cases in 2012, which is less than in 2011.
Asia's travel retail markets also reported strong growth. Overall, the Asia-Pacific added 49.8 million cases to its markets, which is higher than the German spirits market.
According to IWSR data, seven of the top ten growth markets were from the Asia-Pacific region, with China and India being the top growth markets with volumes growing by 24.4 and 11.1 million cases, respectively.
On the other hand, European markets like France, Spain, Germany and Italy were amongst the declining markets, primarily due to tax increases and economic slowdown.
Among different spirits, Baijiu reported highest growth with volumes rising by 23.9 million cases to 1.16 billion cases in China, followed by brandy (excluding Cognac and Armagnac) growing by 12.5 million cases. Majority of the growth in brandy was witnessed in India and the Philippines.
Shochu/soju, the popular spirits in South Korea and Japan, and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) whiskey in India are the other spirits that reported significant growth.
