India topples France as UK’s largest Scotch whisky market

LONDON: India has overtaken France to become the UK’s largest market of Scotch whisky in terms of volume with a 60 per cent hike in imports in 2022 over the previous year, according to the latest figures released by Scotland’s leading industry body.

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) revealed on Friday that India imported 219 million 70cl bottles of Scotch compared to France’s 205 million last year – representing growth of the Indian Scotch market of more than 200 per cent in the past decade.

As one of the key sectors of focus for the UK in the free trade agreement (FTA) talks with India, now in seventh round of negotiations, SWA pointed out that the hike in volume still makes up only a fraction of the Indian whisky market due to high tariffs.

“Despite double-digit growth, Scotch whisky still only comprises 2 per cent of the Indian whisky market,” the association said.

“SWA analysis shows UK-India FTA deal which eases the 150 per cent tariff burden on Scotch whisky in India could boost market access for Scotland’s whisky companies, allowing for an additional GBP 1 billion of growth over the next five years,” it noted.

The value of the Indian market for Scotch exports comes in at fifth worth GBP 282 million, up 93 per cent in 2021 and behind France, Singapore and Taiwan.

The 2022 trend also saw the Asia-Pacific region overtake the European Union (EU) as the industry’s largest regional market, with double-digit post-pandemic growth also seen in Taiwan, Singapore and China besides India.

“During a year of economic headwinds and global supply chain disruption, the Scotch Whisky industry continued to be an anchor of growth, supporting investment and job creation across Scotland and the UK,” said SWA Chief Executive Mark Kent.

Overall, the year 2022 saw solid growth in Scotch exports around the world, with the US holding on to its topmost position as the largest market.