Spirits surpass wine in global volumes
Despite a 3% drop last year, total global spirits volumes have exceeded wine for the first time since IWSR’s records began in 1990.
IWSR has revealed its first 10-year forecasts for all 160 markets it monitors, alongside confirmed 2025 consumption data.
Global alcohol volumes are expected to recover almost to 2025 levels by 2035, resulting in a 1% decline over the 10 years. This is supported by IWSR’s estimation that the population of legal-drinking-age consumers is forecast to grow by 9% over the same period.
IWSR says the global alcohol market will move away from China, North America and Europe to India, South America and Africa, based on data for consumption by servings.
For its consumption by serving data, IWSR used 50ml for spirits, 150ml for wine, and 330ml for beer, cider and ready-to-drink (RTD) products.
The number of alcohol servings consumed in China in 2035 is estimated to be 19% less than it was in 2025. Other nations forecast to report double-digit drops over the same period are the US (down by 18%), Japan (down by 15%), Germany (down by 14%) and the UK (down by 13%).
Bucking the trend are markets like Mexico (up 13%), Vietnam (up 15%), Colombia (up 26%) and India (up 38%), based on IWSR’s predictions for 2035.
India to become second-biggest alcohol market
When measuring consumption by servings, IWSR is betting on India to overtake the US as the world’s second-biggest market for alcohol, after China.
Meanwhile, global annual per capita litres of pure alcohol is expected to drop by half a litre by 2035 – equal to two bottles of spirits or a case of wine per person on a yearly basis.
By 2035, global spirits consumption is forecast to fall by 2%, while wine could plunge by 14%. Beer, on the other hand, is expected to dip by 1%.
The RTD category is expected to grow by 17% in volume over the next decade.
Marten Lodewijks, president and managing director of IWSR, said: “The forecast stabilisation in global beverage alcohol volumes is good news for the industry, but there are still plenty of challenges ahead.
“2035 will be a vastly different market landscape than the one we see today, and producers will need to cater to changing consumer tastes in established markets as well as prepare for significant changes in where consumption is taking place. Companies that only rely on past successes to carry them through the next decade will face serious challenges.”
IWSR 2025: spirits outperform wine as RTDs hit one billion mark
For the first time since IWSR records began in 1990, the total volume of spirits consumed worldwide exceeded the wine consumption. Spirits saw a more moderate drop of 3% last year, but it was enough to beat wine volumes, which fell by 5%.
Beer volumes dipped by 2% globally last year, and RTDs were up by 3%. IWSR recently revealed that RTDs surpassed vodka in global value in 2025.
Luke Tegner, IWSR head of consulting, added: “In 2025, consumers continued seeking flavour exploration, convenience and ABV diversity to suit their consumption occasions. This is driving a shift in consumption away from more established categories like wine and spirits to RTDs.
“Global RTD consumption reached one billion nine-litre cases for the first time in 2025, and there is no sign of this trend abating anytime soon.”
In terms of markets, China slipped by 7% in alcohol servings consumed during 2025. The US was down by 4% and Germany decreased by 5%. Meanwhile, the UK saw a 2% drop.
The largest markets that experienced growth were India and Colombia, which were both up by 4% in alcohol servings last year, and South Africa (up by 1%).
IWSR also pointed out several alcohol categories that grew strongly in 2025, including Indian whisky (up by 4% in volume), RTD cocktails (up 14%) and Korean spirit soju, which increased by 9% outside of its home market.
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