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Top five biggest spirits by volume in US in 2024
There were mixed results across the five biggest-selling spirits categories by volume in the States last year. So, what was up and what went down?
The Distilled Spirits Council of the US (Discus) revealed the latest data on spirits sales in the US in 2024 earlier this week, in partnership with data from IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.
Overall, the value of spirits supplier sales fell by 1.1% in 2024 to US$37.2 billion, a drop of US$424 million.
Meanwhile, volume sales grew by 1.1% to 312.2m nine-litre cases.
Spirits retained the biggest market share of alcoholic beverages in the US last year at 42.2%, marginally ahead of beer at 42%.
“While the spirits industry has proven to be resilient during tough times, it is certainly not immune to disruptive economic forces and marketplace challenges, and that was definitely the case in 2024,” Discus president and CEO Chris Swonger said.
“Consumers were contending with some of the highest prices and interest rates in decades, which put a strain on their wallets and forced many to reduce spending on little luxuries like distilled spirits.”
Looking at individual spirits categories, which were the biggest-selling spirits in the US by volume in 2024?
5. Rum
Rum shifted 20.7 million nine-litre cases in the US in 2024, however this represented an 8.9% decline in volume sales compared with the previous year when volume sales stood at 22.7m cases. It presents a year-on-year decline for the category, as volume sales declined by 5.7% in 2023.
4. American whiskey
The American whiskey category’s volume sales dropped by 2.7% in 2024 to 30.3m cases, down from 31.3m in 2023 (which marked a slight dip of 0.4%).
3. Tequila and mezcal
Widening its lead on American whiskey, the agave spirits categories grew by 2.0% in 2024 to 32.3m cases, up from 31.6m in the previous year when volumes jumped by 5.7%.
2. Cocktails and RTDs
Spanning pre-mixed cocktails and spirits-based RTDs (ready-to-drink products), cocktails and RTDs continued to encroach on the top position of biggest-selling spirit by volume in the US. Last year, volume sales grew by 17% to 73.1m cases. It followed the double-digit growth seen in 2023, when sales grew by 24.3% to 62.5m cases.
1. Vodka
Retaining its top spot as the biggest-selling spirit by volume in the US is vodka, despite a slight dip in sales. In 2024, the category continued its downward trend with a decline of 1.1% to 74.1m cases, down from 74.9m the year prior.
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