With a 60% increase in imports in 2022 over the previous year, India has surpassed France to become the UK’s greatest market for Scotch whisky in terms of volume, according to the most recent statistics provided by Scotland’s primary industry group.
According to the Scotch Whisky Association, with a 60% increase in imports in 2022 over the previous year, India has surpassed France as the UK’s most fantastic market for Scotch Whisky in terms of volume.
India imported 219 million 70cl bottles of Scotch last year compared to France’s 205 million, representing an increase of more than 200 percent in the Indian Scotch market over the previous ten years. According to the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), India imported 219 million 70cl bottles of Scotch last year, compared to France’s 205 million.
SWA noted that the increase in volume still only accounts for a small portion of the Indian whisky market due to high tariffs as one of the primary sectors of focus for the UK in the free trade agreement (FTA) talks with India, which are currently in their seventh round of negotiations.
Scotch whisky still only makes up 2% of the Indian whisky market, the organization claimed, despite double-digit growth.
According to an SWA study, a UK-India FTA that reduces the country’s 150% tax on Scotch whisky might increase market access for Scottish whisky producers, allowing for an additional GBP 1 billion in growth over the following five years.
India is the fifth-largest market for Scotch exports, worth GBP 282 million, rising 93% in 2021 and trailing only France, Singapore, and Taiwan. Along with being the industry’s largest regional market in 2022, the Asia-Pacific area also surpassed the European Union (EU), with double-digit post-pandemic growth also observed in Taiwan, Singapore, and China, in addition to India.
According to SWA chief executive Mark Kent, the Scotch whiskey industry continued to be a growth anchor, supporting investment and job creation across Scotland and the UK during a year of considerable economic headwinds and global supply chain disruption.
The Scottish and UK governments can rely on the Scotch whisky industry to reinvest its success across the UK by lowering tariffs through the UK-India free trade agreement, maintaining the duty freeze in the March budget, and ensuring the industry’s continued ability to advertise our world-class product in our home market, he said.
Overall, Scotch exports increased significantly in 2022, with the US maintaining its lead as the largest market by value at GBP 1,053 million. One of the greatest exports from the UK, Scotch whisky, saw a 37% increase in its overall export value to GBP 6.2 billion.
Nigel Huddleston, the UK’s trade minister, said: “I’m glad to see these export data demonstrating a growing global demand for Scotch whiskey, which is one of the UK’s great exporting success stories, contributing billions of pounds to the economy and sustaining thousands of jobs.”
Our new trade agreements throughout the world, including the CPTPP [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership] and in India, are crucial in helping the industry grow into new markets.
Scotch whisky will continue to grow in the years to come as we aim towards GBP 1 trillion in exports by 2030.
The equivalent of 53 bottles of Scotch whiskey is already exported every second, up from 44 in 2021, according to SWA figures. Bottled Blended Scotch Whisky makes up 59% of value exports, while Single Malt makes up 32% of Scotch whisky exports.
Over 7,000 of the 11,000 people employed directly by the whiskey business in Scotland live in rural regions, and 42,000 more work in other parts of the UK. To better understand how we might increase the export potential and lower trade barriers, we will continue to interact with and listen to the whisky industry, said Mairi Gougeon, cabinet secretary for rural affairs and islands for the Scottish government.
