Alcohol Consumption Decline Leads to Annual Drop in Imports... Only Wine Doubles in 5 Years or More

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] It has been revealed that the import volume of alcoholic beverages brought in from overseas has been decreasing every year. While the overall consumption of alcoholic beverages is gradually declining, among imported alcoholic beverages, only the import volume of wine has increased.

According to data on 'Export and Import Volumes of Alcoholic Beverage Items Over the Past Five Years' received by Kim Sang-hoon, a member of the People Power Party, from the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service on the 21st, the import volume of overseas alcoholic beverages has been steadily declining. Whiskey imports have slightly decreased each year from 15,227㎘ in 2017 to 14,668㎘ in 2018, 14,146㎘ in 2019, and 11,188㎘ in 2020. There was a slight increase to 11,585㎘ last year.

Cheongju, a Japanese-style sake item, also decreased by more than half over five years, from 6,525㎘ in 2017 to 6,482㎘ in 2018, 4,087㎘ in 2019, 3,392㎘ in 2020, and 3,113㎘ in 2021.

On the other hand, wine imports more than doubled over five years, from 36,517㎘ in 2017 to 40,611㎘ in 2018, 44,092㎘ in 2019, 54,469㎘ in 2020, and 76,881㎘ last year. This is analyzed to be due to the spread of 'home drinking culture' during COVID-19, improved accessibility to wine, and the expansion of its base along with trends toward premiumization and diversification.

Representative Kim explained, "The export and import volumes of major alcoholic beverages have generally been declining even before COVID-19," adding, "This appears to be a phenomenon resulting from changes in company dinners or gathering cultures and alcohol consumption patterns."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.