Irish spirits exports up 17% in 2022

The value of Irish spirits exports rose by double digits last year to reach a record high of €1.45 billion (US$1.6bn), a new report has revealed.

The Irish Spirits Market Report 2022 by trade body Drinks Ireland | Spirits revealed Irish spirits exports grew by 17.3% in value in 2022.

It followed a 25% increase for Irish spirits exports in 2021, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

Cormac Healy, director of Drinks Ireland, said: “The export performance of Irish spirits has been exceptional, with export value reaching almost €1.5 billion last year.

“New markets are emerging and it’s wonderful to see a growing awareness and appreciation of the unmatched quality of Irish spirits throughout the world.”

Irish spirits sales in Ireland rose by 6% last year and by 10% when compared to 2019.

Global sales of the country’s three geographic indication (GI) spirits – Irish whiskey, Irish cream and poitín – grew in volume collectively by 5.7% to 25.2 million nine-litre cases in 2022.

Exports of Irish whiskey increased by 8.6% in volume to 15.25m cases in 2022. The US remained its biggest market, followed by Ireland, the UK, Poland and global travel retail.

In 2022, Poland grew by more than 24% to overtake Germany as the category’s fourth-biggest market. South Africa soared by more than 31% in volume to move up one place to sixth.

Global Irish cream sales rose by 1% to 9.8m cases in 2022 and poitín declined by 17.8% after an ‘exceptionally strong 2021’.

The value of US whiskey and Bourbon exports to Ireland soared by 19.3% to £3.4m (US$4.3m) last year.

The start of 2022 saw the removal of tariffs on American whiskey after the EU and US reached an agreement, which is due to last until the end of 2023.

Domestic performance

Vodka (up by 7%) remained the biggest-selling spirit in Ireland last year, followed by Irish whiskey (up by 10.9%) and gin (down by 1.7%).

The report noted that while gin has soared over the past decade, the category is starting to see a slowdown driven by standard-priced bottlings. Premium gins bucked the trend, rising by 15% in 2022.

Irish cream sales in the domestic market were up by 8.4% and Tequila increased by 18%.

Total sales of ready-to-drink (RTD) products declined by 0.3%, following growth of 14% in 2021 and 26% in 2020. However, RTD cocktails and long drinks specifically rose by 10.4% last year.

Furthermore, in 2022 the market share of Irish-made RTDs doubled from 11% to 22% in Ireland, the report said.

Sales of low- and no-alcohol ‘spirits’ skyrocketed by 1,122% between 2019 and 2022 in Ireland, but from a very low base. The sector rose by almost 47% in 2021.

Bryan Fallon, chair of Drinks Ireland | Spirits and managing director of Heaven Hill Ireland, said: “It’s positive to see growth at home and in our key established and emerging export markets in 2022, after a number of challenging years.”

He noted a number of challenges in 2022, including the impact of inflation on raw materials.

“The sector also continues to be burdened with the second-highest overall excise tax on drinks products in the EU, with spirits having the third-highest rates behind Finland and Sweden,” he added.

Distillery visits in Ireland reached almost 680,000 in 2022, slightly behind 2019 numbers.