India Replaces France as UK’s Largest Scotch Whisky Market

India is set to overtake France to become the UK’s biggest market for Scotch whiskey in terms of volume, with imports set to rise by 60 per cent in 2022, according to data from Scotland’s leading industry body.

The Scotch Whiskey Association (SWA) has said this India Last year it imported 219 million 70 cl bottles of Scotch compared to France’s 205 million – representing over 200 per cent growth in the Indian Scotch market over the past decade.

As one of the key areas of focus for the UK in Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with India, now in its seventh round of talks, the SWA pointed out that volume growth is still only a fraction of the Indian whiskey market. due to high tariffs.

“Despite double-digit growth, Scotch whiskey still accounts for only 2 per cent of the Indian whiskey market,” the association said on Friday.

“SWA analysis suggests a UK-India FTA deal that reduces the 150 per cent tariff burden on Scotch whiskey in India could boost market access for Scottish whiskey companies, generating an additional GBP 1 billion over the next five years Billions may increase.” noted.

The Indian market for Scotch exports comes in fifth place at GBP 282 million, up 93 percent in 2021 and behind France, Singapore and Taiwan. The 2022 trend sees the Asia-Pacific region surpassing the European Union (EU) as the industry’s largest regional market, with India, Taiwan, Singapore and China also witnessing double-digit post-pandemic growth .

Mark Kent, chief executive of the SWA, said: “During a year of significant economic headwinds and global supply chain disruption, the Scotch whiskey industry remained an anchor of growth, supporting investment and job creation across Scotland and the UK. “

“Through the UK-India Free Trade Agreement, the continuation of the duty freeze in the March budget, and ensuring the industry’s continued ability to advertise our world-class product in our domestic market, the Scottish and UK Governments trust the Scotch whiskey industry reinvest their success across the UK,” he said.

Overall, the year 2022 sees solid growth in worldwide Scotch exports, with the US taking its top spot as the largest market with a value of GBP 1,053 million.

The total export value of Scotch whisky, one of the UK’s largest exporters, increased by 37 per cent to GBP 6.2 billion.

UK Trade Minister Nigel Huddleston said: “Scotch whiskey is one of the UK’s great export success stories, contributing billions of pounds to the economy and supporting thousands of jobs, so I am delighted to see these export figures Which reflects the growing global demand.

“It is essential that we continue to support the industry as it expands to new markets around the world thanks to our new trade agreements such as the CPTPP. [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership] and in India. As we set our target of GBP 1 trillion in exports by 2030, I am confident that we can see Scotch whiskey going from strength to strength in the years to come. According to SWA figures, the equivalent of 53 bottles of Scotch whiskey are exported every second on average – up from 44 per second in 2021. Bottled blended Scotch whiskey accounts for 59 percent of exports by value, with single malt accounting for 32 percent of all Scotch. Whiskey exports by value.

“The whiskey industry directly employs 11,000 people in Scotland alone, of whom more than 7,000 work in rural areas and more than 42,000 jobs across the UK. We will continue to engage and listen to the whiskey industry to understand how How can we improve export opportunities and remove barriers to trade,” said Mary Goujian, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Islands, Scottish Government.

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