Irish Central
A new report revealed the US imports nearly four times as many Irish spirits than any other country.
A whopping 8.2 million cases of Irish spirits were exported from Ireland to the US in 2022, making it by far the largest buyer of Irish spirits.
A new report released by Drinks Ireland revealed that the US imports nearly four times as many Irish spirits than any other country.
A total of 25.2 million nine-liter cases of Irish spirits were sold around the world in 2022, including Irish whiskey, Irish cream, and poitín.
The value of Irish spirits exports grew by 17% in 2022, while domestic sales also grew by 6%.
Almost 8.2 million cases were exported to the US alone last year, including 5.84 million cases of Irish whiskey.
The UK was the next biggest market for Irish spirits, with 2.39 million cases sold in 2022.
Germany, buying 1.4 million cases, was the third-largest importer of Irish spirits last year.
Russia fell out of the top five biggest importers of Irish spirits following the outbreak of the war with Ukraine in February 2022. Irish Distillers, which makes Jameson, Powers, and other leading Irish brands, confirmed last May that it has removed its drinks from Russian shelves.
Irish whiskey accounted for 15.2 million cases of the 25.2 million cases of Irish spirits exported worldwide in 2022, with Irish cream accounting for 9.9 million sales.
Domestically, 2.7 million cases of spirits were sold in Ireland last year, with vodka accounting for 30% of all sales, followed by whiskey (26%) and gin (13%).
Cormac Healy, director of Drinks Ireland said there is a continuing trend toward “premiumization in the drinks industry”, adding that drinking culture in Ireland is beginning to “evolve”.
He said Irish consumers are now regularly choosing “quality over quantity”.
The Drinks Ireland report noted this trend toward premiumization has had an impact on gin sales in Ireland, which were down 1.7% last year. The report stated that sales of standard gin suffered a slowdown in 2022 but found that premium gin sales rose by 15%.