Global gin volumes up 1% in 2025
Gin volumes increased by 1% globally last year, led by the Philippines and emerging markets like Nigeria, India and China.
Chris Pitcher, partner at Rothschild & Co Redburn, held a seminar on the global gin market during The Gin Guild’s annual Ginposium conference last Friday (13 June).
Globally, gin volumes reached approximately 109 million nine-litre cases in 2025, an increase of 1%, based on IWSR figures. This growth was slower than the previous year (up 2%).
Value growth deaccelerated to 2% in 2025, Pitcher noted, adding that “pricing has stabilised and is driving a lot of the growth.”
In 2025, gin consumption recovered to 26% ahead of 2019.
“There’s still growth out there,” Pitcher said optimistically, highlighting that retail sales hit US$14 billion, 30% above 2019 levels.
He explains that pricing has slowed to 3% in 2025, with volume growth coming from “new markets where the price of gin is lower” and “not from premium markets”.
Pitcher continued: “Putting it into context against other categories, gin is doing very well. Gin is gaining volume and value share.”
He adds that whisky and Tequila have seen the largest increase in the 2025 share of international spirits retail sales, while vodka, brandy and rum continue to lose share.
Whisky is growing off the back of India, Pitcher says, while gin has now “moved ahead of vodka” in terms of the 2025 global value share of premium-plus-priced international spirits, but remains “some way behind Tequila”.
Gin has held on to its position as the fourth-biggest category in premium-plus international spirits. Whisky is in the lead, followed by Tequila and brandy.
Gin’s growth across the world
In his presentation, Pitcher also looked at areas of growth across the world, noting that at its peak, gin consumption grew by 36% between 2015 and 2019. At the time, there was broad-based growth across the Americas, Europe, Southern Africa and Asia Pacific, while the US was modestly up. In contrast, India was in decline.
Comparing 2019 to 2025, the global gin map looked vastly different. Europe’s recovery was mixed over this period, with the UK, Spain and Germany down as France and Italy recovered. North America was also weak, while South America improved.
Other green shoots were found in Africa and Asia, specifically Nigeria, South Africa, the Philippines and China, while India was back above 2019 levels.
“It’s not just gin, it’s spirits consumption. Alcohol consumption generally has not recovered post-pandemic,” Pitcher cautioned. “Many are worried we’re in a multi-year structural downturn like we saw in the 1980s through to the mid-90s.”
Looking specifically at gin’s geographical performance in 2025, growth was concentrated in emerging markets. Asia’s gain was led by the Philippines, China and India.
The category’s performance was mixed in both Latin America and Africa: Nigeria, South Africa and Brazil grew while Ethiopia and Mexico decreased.
Most of Western Europe was in decline, alongside North America.
Regarding gin’s 2025 performance, Pitcher said: “Australia went red. There was mixed moderation across Europe – it’s not looking great in Western Europe.”
He pointed out that India, China and Russia were in growth, while Mexico remains weak. “You’ve got big populous markets like Nigeria adopting gin,” he continued.
Speaking about the UK specifically, Pitcher noted that gin at its peak was approximately 22% of UK spirits consumption. For 2025, it was down by 40% from the peak.
He added that non-flavoured gin is now back in line with the pre-boom trend, with flavoured representing one-fifth of UK gin consumption (previously it was one-third).
UK gin exports boom
Exports of UK gin also increased by 14% in 2025, based on His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) data. The category was also up by 2% in the 12 months to March 2026.
The US was the largest export market for UK gin, with shipments recovering in 2025.
Italy overtook Spain as the top European destination for UK gin in 2023. While Italy declined in 2025, led by flavoured gin, it is back in growth in the year-to-date (12 months to March).
Looking at Italy, Pitcher noted that the market has been the main source of growth for gin in Europe. In the off-trade, gin has also returned to growth (NIQ data).
Pitcher also spotlighted Turkey as a top destination for gin, while Spain continued to decrease.
Spain led the gin boom in Europe in 2010 but was hit hard by the pandemic. At its peak in 2022, the category added over two million cases.
While the strong recovery has faded in Spain, the rate of decline for gin consumption has slowed in the off-trade.
In Germany, where the category remains small, gin peaked in 2022 and remains in decline. Meanwhile, spirits and beer volumes both fell by 6% in Germany last year.
Within Germany, the gin category lost share in 2025, alongside whisky, while bitters and vodka gained share.
The gin segment also remains in decline in the US, where all bottled spirits are decreasing, Pitcher noted. Gin has lost share in the ‘weak’ US market.
Pitcher also pointed to several investments in the gin category in the past 12 months, including Guatemalan Spirits’ purchase of Spanish brand Puerto de Indias and La Martiniquaise-Bardinet’s acquisition of a majority share in English producer Warner’s.
Meanwhile, UK-based Slingsby Gin was saved from administration by a local couple in Harrogate.
Pitcher ended the presentation by looking at the new growth markets for gin, naming the Philippines as the main driver. Nigeria also remains in growth, while China is growing strongly from a low base and Brazil is in recovery.
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