Global spirits volumes rise 0.3% in 2016

Global spirits volumes grew in 2016, bolstered by an uptick in the gin, Tequila and whisky categories, according to research by the IWSR.

Tequila saw the largest growth, up 5.2% on the previous year, followed by the gin category, which rose 3.7%, and then whisky, which saw a 1.7% uplift.

Key growth markets for total spirits last year were China, the US and Mexico.

The vodka category is “dragging down” overall spirits performance, the ISWR found, down -4.3% in 2016 due to “steep volume losses” of -9.3% in its largest market, Russia.

The IWSR reports that the global alcoholic drinks market declined by -1.3% in 2016 compared with an average rate of -0.3% in the previous five years, due to ” faster decline in beer, a reversal of trends for cider and slowing growth for mixed drinks”.

The analyst acknowledges that its findings portray an “increasingly faster” rate compared to other data companies – including Euromonitor, which found that global drinks decline slowed to -0.2% in the same period.

The IWSR has predicted “improving fortunes” for the total global drinks market with consumption slated to increase by 0.8% until 2021, led by the whisky category which can expect to see volumes grow by 650m litres.

In addition, it forecasts that global consumption of mixed drinks will increase by more than 400m litres over the next five years.