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Top 10
The biggest-selling spirits in the world
A bumper 2022 resulted in widespread declines across the spirits industry in 2023. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom – here are the world’s top 10 biggest-selling spirits.
High inflation, soaring energy costs, packaging shortages, and recessions – the challenges of doing business were plentiful in 2023. But so were the opportunities.
2022 was a standout sales year as the world rebounded post-pandemic. While some major borders remained closed for the majority of the year (such as China), travel became easier. Travellers returned with vigour (but not quite to pre-Covid numbers).
China’s borders officially reopened at the start of 2023, signalling the start of the real global return to ‘normal’ since 2020. As the data has trickled in this year, from category and regional exports to companies’ financial results, it is becoming clear that 2023 was a ‘reset’ year for the trade.
Data from Euromonitor International forecasts that total spirits volume grew by 1.4% in 2023 compared with 2022.
Nine of the 10 biggest-selling spirits in the world were also featured in 2023’s list, with one newcomer joining the ranks. Four of the top 10 brands managed to grow their sales.
Based on the data in our 2024 Brand Champions report, we’ve analysed the performances of the top-selling spirits and ready-to-drink (RTD) products globally.
Read on to discover the top 10 best-selling spirits brands, listed in order of their nine-litre case sales.
10. Imperial Blue
2023: 22.8m
2022: 24.0m
% change: -4.9%
Place last year: 10
Despite a volume sales drop of nearly 5%, Pernod Ricard-owned Imperial Blue managed to hold onto its spot in 10th place and remained the fourth-biggest Indian whisky in the world.
However it was one of only two Indian whisky brands that experienced a decline, putting its spot in question for next year.
9. Tanduay
2023: 23.4m
2022: 27.4m
% change: -14.7%
Place last year: 5
Philippine brand Tanduay experienced the biggest sales drop of all brands in the top 10 list, falling from fifth place in 2023 to ninth in 2024.
It remains the world’s top-selling rum brand, with its nearest competitor – Bacardí – also experiencing a decline, knocking it out of this year’s top 10 biggest-selling spirits list.
8. Officer’s Choice
2023: 23.4m
2022: 24.9m
% change: -6.0%
Place last year: 8
Sticking firm in eighth place despite a 6% sales decrease is Indian whisky brand Officer’s Choice. It managed to hold onto its spot as the third biggest-selling Indian whisky in the world following a blip in 2021, when Imperial Blue managed to outperform it.
Produced by Allied Blenders & Distillers, Officer’s Choice was once the world’s biggest Indian whisky at 34m cases in 2018.
7. Smirnoff
2023: 26.0m
2022: 28.1m
% change: -7.7%
Place last year: 4
The world’s biggest-selling vodka may have retained its crown, but it did slip from fourth to seventh place in the overall list following a 7.7% decline.
The Diageo-owned brand was last year’s Vodka Brand Champion, but 2024 saw its sales fall to a lower figure than in 2021.
So far this year, Smirnoff has debuted a range of RTD vodka sodas, which launched alongside a celebrity-backed pickleball tournament. Whether this innovation and marketing investment will be enough to pick sales back up for 2024 remains to be seen.
6. Chum Churum
2023: 27.0m
2022: 26.0m
% change: 3.9%
Place last year: 7
Korean soju brand Chum Churum is the first in the list to grow its sales from 2022, achieving a 3.9% increase to 27m cases and jumping from seventh position to sixth in the process.
Its sales are still dwarfed by competitor Jinro, which was last year’s Supreme Brand Champion, however Chum Churum has continued its growth from 2023, following three years of consecutive declines between 2019 and 2021. Spirit of Gallo began distributing the soju brand to the US in January this year.
5. -196
2023: 27.8m
2022: 27.3m
% change: 2.1%
Place last year: 12
A new addition to this year’s top 10, Suntory Global Spirits’ RTD brand -196 grew its sales by 2.1% to 27.8m cases. The brand experienced declines in 2020 and 2022, with its 2023 figure matching its sales in 2021.
Its parent company rebranded earlier this year, with the firm stating its new name positions its global business ‘for the next era of growth and leadership’.
4. Royal Stag
2023: 27.9m
2022: 27.1m
% change: 3.0%
Place last year: 6
Last year’s Indian Whisky Brand Champion, Pernod Ricard’s Royal Stag, also achieved growth in 2023, increasing by 3% to 27.9m cases and jumping from sixth place to fourth. While its growth was more impressive between 2022 and 2023, it’s still making gains on Indian whisky giant McDowell’s.
3. McDowell’s Whisky
2023: 31.4m
2022: 30.8m
% change: 2.1%
Place last year: 3
This year’s Indian Whisky Brand Champion, United Spirits-owned McDowell’s Whisky, grew by 2.1% in 2023 and held firmly onto its third spot in the top 10 biggest-selling spirits brands.
Varun Koorichh, the brand’s vice-president, said its growth was “led by a positive momentum in the premium segment as consumers, despite being faced with inflationary pressures, switched to familiar brands”.
2. White Claw
2023: 56.6m
2022: 59.0m
% change: -4.0%
Place last year: 2
While White Claw still dominates the RTD sector, sales of the hard seltzer brand were down 4% last year, marking its second year of decline following five years of unprecedented growth. Last year saw it expand outside of the RTD space, launching a vodka, and in 2024 it debuted a Tequila RTD range, as the brand looks to innovate in the face of a hard seltzer crash.
1. Jinro
2023: 97.4m
2022: 100.9m
% change: -3.5%
Place last year: 1
Last year’s Supreme Brand Champion suffered a decline of 3.5%, taking it to under 100m cases after reaching the milestone for the first time in 2022. It remains by far the biggest-selling spirits brand in the world, with White Claw trailing behind by nearly 41m cases. Hite-Jinro’s Kim Kang‐wook believes that a “Korean wave is spreading out to all around the world”, which could lead to growth in overseas markets in the coming years.
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