Gin becoming increasingly popular

While beer and wine are being consumed less.

Gin and tonic with wedge of lime.

Gin saw the biggest gains in global alcohol consumption in 2018, while volumes of beer and wine dipped during the same period, says a new study on global alcohol consumption.

According to a wide-ranging report from the International Wine and Spirits Research (IWSR) group out of the UK, overall global consumption of booze dipped slightly between 2017 and 2018 by about 2%.

But that figure is an anomaly in trends, as analysts say global consumption is forecast to increase steadily over the next five years from 27.6 billion nine-litre cases in 2018 to 28.5 billion cases in 2023. In terms of value, that translates to a growth of 7% over the next five years from the $1 trillion market in 2018, driven by demand for premium products.

Meanwhile, the category that saw the biggest growth last year was gin, which grew 8% over 2017, driven by the growing popularity of pink gin, the cocktail scene and the premiumization of the market.

Gin experienced its biggest growth in the UK at 33%, followed by the Philippines, the world’s largest gin market, which grew 8%.

Over the next five years, growth is predicted to be particularly strong in the UK, Philippines, South Africa, Brazil, Uganda, Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada and France.

After gin, whisky also experienced a strong year, recording a growth of 7%, thanks in large part to consumption in India, followed by a strong performance in Japan and the US (8% and 5% respectively).

On the flipside, the losers last year included vodka, beer and wine, all of which experienced global declines of around two percent.

Here are the world’s fastest-growing alcohol markets around the world, forecast for the five-year period between 2018-2023:

1. India
2. Mexico
3. Vietnam
4. Philippines
5. Nigeria
6. Poland
7. Ethiopia
8. Myanmar
9. Sri Lanka
10. Turkey

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