Changing consumer trends has meant that global spirits sales are likely to surpass wine as indicated in a recently released global study on the matter.
Released in Geneva in order to coincide with the World Spirits Alliance (WSA) annual meeting, the Oxford Economics and alcohol market research firm IWSR report said that 2.67 billion cases were sold in 2022, almost as many as the 2.8 billion cases of wine sold that year.
“Should current trends in both categories continue, volumes will soon surpass those of wine,” the report outlines.
Speaking from the conference in Geneva, Spirits New Zealand Chief Executive Robert Brewer said the trends identified in the WSA Global Economic Impact Study can be seen in New Zealand.
“As consumers drink less, they choose to spend their money differently. This has meant a surge in popularity for premium spirits and spirit-based beverages,” said Brewer.
“It’s part of the global trend where consumers are moderating their drinking by sipping and savouring a premium spirit or cocktail. In fact in 2023, according to Statistics NZ data, the volume of spirits and spirit-based beverages available for consumption in New Zealand overtook wine for the first time,” he said.
“This is also good news for our fledgling homegrown spirits sector, which prides itself on producing premium spirits and which is already establishing itself as a growing exporter of premium products.”
The report outlines that the spirits industry contributed US $730 billion (approximately $1,197 billion) gross value added to global GDP in 2022. It found that the industry had supported 36 million jobs worldwide (equivalent to the entire workforce of the UK).
In 2022, the industry generated USD $390 billion (roughly NZD $640 billion) in tax revenue for governments globally, which, if it was a national economy, would put it in the top 20 worldwide. With USD $120 billion (approximately NZD $197 billion) spent on third-party suppliers like grain growers and bottle-makers, the spirits industry fuels a diverse range of sectors.
Over 50 percent of spirits sold globally in 2022 were at premium level or above, reflecting consumers’ growing preference to drink less and drink better.
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