India outsells France as the largest consumer of Scotch whisky by quantity.
Image credit: Deccan Herald
According to the most recent data, India has surpassed France as the highest volume consumer of Scotch whisky worldwide.
The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) said that whisky producers shipped 219 million bottles to India, an increase of 60% from 2021.
By value, the US remains the biggest consumer; in 2022, it purchased Scotch whisky worth $1.27 billion (£1.05 billion). India came in at number five.
Although Scotch has long been considered a prestige brand in India, the country still only accounts for 2% of the global whisky market.
Millions of Indian consumers have always chosen blended whisky since it is less expensive. But because of cultural changes and an increase in Indians’ purchasing power, there has also been an increase in demand for more premium single malts.
While India’s contribution to worldwide Scotch sales has increased significantly—exports to the nation increased by more than 200% over the past ten years—exporters still see plenty of room for expansion.
Because of lobbying by local distillers, India imposes a 150% import levy on each bottle of Scotch whisky, pushing up costs and reducing companies’ profit margins.
A long-awaited trade agreement between India and the UK, according to the SWA, may help alleviate this. Although the two nations were unable to finish the agreement in October, they have held multiple rounds of negotiations thus far.
Scotch whisky is one of the items whose sales might soar if the deal is approved and taxes are reduced; the SWA estimated that this could result in “an extra £1 billion of growth over the following five years.”
Both in terms of value and volume, France was ranked second by the SWA.
The group reported that outside of India, Scotch producers experienced double-digit development in Taiwan, China, and Singapore “as the post-COVID rebound proceeded.”
As a result, the wider Asia-Pacific area became the item’s biggest regional market in 2022, surpassing the European Union, whose imports of the product totaled £1.8 billion and represented 29% of its overall worldwide exports, which increased by 37% to £6.2 billion.
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