Young Brits expected to boost gin sales to £1bn

Gin is growing in favour among young drinkers, with 42% of Brits aged 18-34 having consumed it in the past 12 months, new research from Mintel reveals today. By Luke Terry

British gin sales are expected to reach £1bn by the end of this year, Mintel claims

Only 27% of over-45s drank gin in the last year, despite 56% of white spirit and RTD drinkers believing gin is an older person’s drink.

This boost in young drinkers should help gin sales reach over £1 billion in 2015 – the highest ever recorded figure and 25% more than 2012.

Chris Wisson, senior drinks analyst at Mintel, said: “The strong performance of gin continues to stand out within the spirits market.”

Brits are expected to have drunk 29 million litres of gin by the end of 2015.

One third (33%) of Britons have drunk gin in the last year, and Mintel predicts that gin sales will continue to rise to £1.31 billion by 2020.

“One of gin’s sobriquets is ‘Mother’s Ruin’ and the drink still has certain associations with older drinkers,” said Wisson. “However, our research indicates that gin is in fact now most likely to be drunk by younger consumers.”

Only 20% of white spirit/RTD drinkers say gin is their favourite, but the popularity with young drinkers is a positive sign.

Vodka also enjoyed booming sales, shooting up 8% in the past five years to £3.46 billion in 2015.

Generally, volume sales of white spirits and RTDs have stagnated in the past four years, and should stand at 217 million litres by the end of 2015.