- Full-year exports leap by 35% to GBP730.9m [US$880.1m]
- Shipments to US top pre-pandemic 2019 at GBP218.1m
- Brexit impact “clearly continuing” as exports to EU slip by 4% on 2019
The US has roared back into growth for gin producers in the UK, according to figures released last week, although the EU fell back last year.
Data from His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs [HMRC], cited by trade association The Gin Guild, showed that year-on-year gin shipments from the UK were up by 35% in value terms in 2022. Compared to the 12 months of 2019, exports rose by 9%.
After two consecutive years of declines, lead market the US returned to growth, breaking the GBP200m barrier for the first time since 2019. However, a lift in sales to the combined EU countries - rising 30.4% to GBP304.4m - failed to restore exports to their pre-pandemic levels. Second-placed Spain was down almost 7% on 2021 and -33.8% versus 2019.
The Gin Guild said the performance of exports to the UK shows that "the impact of Brexit continues to be felt".
The UK's departure from the trading block was also highlighted by a "drop of one third" for gin heading in the other direction: Imports from the EU to the UK last year fell by almost GBP10m compared to 2019. At the same time, imports from North America were down more than half. a;though by a lesser figure of GBP2.2m.
"Despite the ongoing challenges of spiralling energy costs, price inflation, rising interest rates and the war in Ukraine, which all affect trading conditions, gin distillers have shown their ... ability to innovate over the past three years," said Gin Guild DG Pal Gleed.
“These latest figures show the potential for gin sales to continue to grow around the world as the spirit gains market share from other drinks which have traditionally dominated in some countries.”
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