Close Menu
News

Premium Scotch sees demand in South Korea

A growing young, middle-class population is boosting demand for premium Scotch whisky in South Korea.

South Korea spirits
The SWA has seen growing demand for premium Scotch in South Korea

Speaking to The Spirits Business last month (April), Emily Roads, head of trade (Asia Pacific) at the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), said despite a “significant fall in exports” of Scotch to South Korea over the last decade, demand for “high-quality, premium Scotch whisky” was on the up.

SWA figures showed that in 2021, South Korea was worth £63.8 million (US$79.7m), or 8.4m bottles in direct exports.

In 2022, this number jumped to £124.5m (US$155.5m), or 14.1m bottles, making South Korea the 17th most valuable market for Scotch exports globally – and the seventh largest in Asia Pacific by value.

The increase represented the Covid-19 recovery year, Roads noted. The figures are also still ‘significantly’ below the 2009 peak, Roads added.

“South Korea is an increasingly premium market,” said Roads. “While bottled blended Scotch whisky makes up the majority of exports (around 65%), there has been strong growth in demand for single malts, which accounted for about a third of exports in 2022, up from a 3% market share in 2012 and 13% market share in 2019.

“This premiumisation has helped maintain South Korea as an important export market for Scotch whisky, despite a significant fall in exports over the last decade.”

This trend is mirrored in the wider Asia Pacific region. Last year, Asia Pacific became the highest value-export market for Scotch, overtaking the EU for the first time.

“In 2022, the region was worth £1,818m [US$2.271], [29% of global exports], and was the second largest by volume, totalling equivalent of 479m bottles [29% of global exports],” Roads added.

“There are significant opportunities for further growth in the region, with markets such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines all showing strong signs of growth, and with a growing young middle-class population, we can see greater interest in high-quality, premium products like Scotch whisky.”

For an in-depth exploration of the South Korean market, see the May 2023 edition of The Spirits Business, out now.

It looks like you're in Asia, would you like to be redirected to the Drinks Business Asia edition?

Yes, take me to the Asia edition No