You’ll Never Guess the Country That Drinks The Most Whisky

When you think of whisky, you think of Scotland. That’s not a surprise. And, if you live outside the UK, it won’t surprise you that a lot of scotch is exported. Scotch is a product enjoyed around the world.

Okay, that’s pretty obvious. Not the topic you’d expect a blog about.

People around the world like whisky? Stop the presses!      

What we think is interesting is where people drink whisky. The top 5 scotch importers are not the countries you’d expect.

Who Imports The Most Whisky?  

Your first guess at the largest scotch importer is probably the United States. The US is a massive whisky market. And, in turn, the UK imports a lot of whisky from the United States. The US is the largest whisky importer in the UK.

There is a friendly whisky exchange between the US and the UK.

But after the US, the list gets interesting

HM Revenue and Customs. “Leading 5 Destinations for Whisky Exported from The United Kingdom (Uk) in 2020, by Value (in Million GBP).” Statista, Statista Inc., 17 Feb 2021

This statistic illustrates the leading five countries United Kingdom exports whisky to, ranked by total export value in 2020. The United States ranked highest, with whisky exports valuing nearly £750 million, followed by France accounting with approximately £384 million worth of UK scotch exports. 

France isn’t a huge surprise. Scotch is massive in France. But would you’d have guessed Singapore, Taiwan and Latvia? They aren’t the first whisky loving countries that spring to mind.

Together, these three whisky loving countries purchased £615 million of scotch in 2020.

There is a growing interest in whisky around the world. When unexpected countries begin to purchase millions of pounds of a product, investors start to see opportunities.  

A Large Market means Investment Opportunities   

The top five scotch importers purchased £1.75 billion of whisky in 2020. And that’s just from the top 5 scotch importers. According to the Scotch Whisky Association, total scotch whisky exports were worth £3.8 billion in 2020. Thirty-six bottles (70cl @40% ABV) of Scotch Whisky is shipped from Scotland to 166 markets around the world each second.

The massive global demand for scotch whisky is a fantastic investment opportunity.

If you’d like to learn more about investing in whisky, complete this form, and we’ll email our Ultimate Guide to Whisky Cask Investment.