China, Japan, India top list of alcohol consuming countries

Despite an economic slowdown, China’s alcohol consumption in 2012 went up more than 5 per cent. According to Euromonitor, the volume of spirits consumed in China also rose to 5 million litres. The spirits segment (as opposed to beer) is expected to increase 16 per cent year-on-year between 2013 and 2016, a drop from 21 per cent growth between 2006 and 2011.

At sixth position globally, Japan made it to the list thanks to the 8.9 billion litres it consumed. Japan ranked second within Asia. However, its consumption during the year remained relatively stagnant from 2011 levels. In both China and Japan, beer accounted for a majority of consumption at 50 billion litres and 6.2 billion litres, respectively.

India emerged in third place, with 4.4 billion litres of alcohol consumed in 2012. Of that, beer accounted for 2 billion litres, while sprits grew to 2.4 million litres from 2.2 million litres in 2011.

Whisky accouns for 1.3 billion litres of the spirits market in India. For years now, London-based Diageo has been keen to make in-roads into this thriving market. It is currently in the process of acquiring a majority stake in United Spirits, the top-selling spirits company in India. The deal will make Diageo the world’s spirits leader by volume and bigger than the next four alcohol beverage companies including Pernod Ricard, Beam, Brown-Forman and Campari by volume.  If the deal goes through, Diageo will have enviable reach and distribution into the world’s largest whisky selling nation.

“While profits are relatively low compared to international spirits they offer a fantastic platform for when international spirits products, especially blended Scotch become more affordable to Indian consumers,” said Euromonitor’s senior alcoholic drinks analyst Jeremy Cunnington in a blog post.

In Asia, Korea is another lucrative market for alcohol companies, accounting for 3.7 billion litres of consumption, an increase of 2 per cent from last year. The slowdown, however, is beginning to have an adverse effect on consumption. The scotch market witnessed a decline as Koreans showed a preference for beer and vodka. As a result, Diageo’s sales growth in Asia-Pacific slowed to 4 per cent from 10 per cent a year ago.

In fifth spot, Vietnam showed strong growth in 2012. The country’s total alcohol consumption went up 11 per cent from 2.7 billion litres to 3 billion litres. Strong growth in both beer and spirits contributed to the increase.

Thailand and Philippines ranked sixth and seventh on the list, respectively. Thailand saw alcohol consumption go up marginally 2.8 billion litres. Philippines didn’t lag too far behind with 2.4 billion litres consumed. According to Euromonitor, Vietnam, with its young population and increasing number of working class citizens, will continue to see growth for alcoholic drinks. At present, even as international companies set their sights on the market, local players continue to dominate.

Kazakhstan, Taiwan and Uzbekistan completed the list, accounting for 10 billion litres of consumption together.