Global Vodka Sales Stagnate in 2012, Says Latest Just-drinks & The IWSR Research

BROMSGROVE, England, October 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

The global vodka market managed only 0.3% growth last year, reaching 493.9m nine-litre cases, with sales under pressure in its Eastern and Central European strongholds, according to a new report from just-drinks and The IWSR.

Value sales (including taxation) in calendar-2012 rose by 4.1% to US$48.9bn. The Americas saw a healthy 6.3% gain to US$15bn, although sales in Europe declined by 6.6% to US$11.5bn.

According to the report, the 'Global market review of vodka - forecasts to 2018', the Americas region has seen its share of the global market rise from 13.2% to 17.7%  (87.6m cases) between 2008 and 2012. Sales in the US rose by 7.1% in 2012 to $11.9bn. The report also notes that the vodka sector is taking off in Asia, albeit from a small base.

Retail value sales were boosted by premiumisation across a spectrum of markets, the report states, with higher qualities of vodka outperforming the general market.

Premium-and-above vodka sales increased by 7.6% last year to 25.8m cases, while low-priced vodka was the only segment to decline. The US and Russia account for the vast majority of the premium-and-above market: The US alone has a 74% share (18.9m cases), while Russia has an 11.5% share (2.9m cases), followed by Brazil with a 2.3% share (601,250 cases).

The report states that the super-premium market in the US is booming once more, registering a 9.5% rise in 2012 from 2011.

Another key trend identified by the report is the continued growth in flavoured vodka. In fact, while neutral vodka was virtually flat in 2012, volumes of flavoured vodka rose by 5.7% to 23.2m cases. Flavours comprised 4.7% of the global vodka market in 2012, up from 3.4% in 2008, report stated. The US market accounts for 60% of the total flavoured vodka market, followed by Poland with 15.4% and India with 5%.

'Global market review of vodka - forecasts to 2018' is now available at the just-drinks research store.

About just-drinks.com

Established in 1999, just-drinks is a leading online resource for the global beverage industry, publishing around 20 news articles, analysis features and insights every working day. Under the direction of managing editor Olly Wehring, its experienced team of journalists, consultants and analysts provide a unique and comprehensive blend of reports and interpretation of the beverage industry, including key events, trends, interviews and research that are delivered to over 92,000 business executives per month.

Through its web site, webinars and in-depth management briefings just-drinks offers insight into soft drinks, wine, beer, spirits and bottled water industry developments and supply-chain trends, brand and corporate strategies, CONSULT research platform, enterprise technologies such as PLM and ERP. Furthermore, just-drinks supplies news on manufacturing developments and how the drinks industry is performing around the world.

For details of how just-drinks is helping decision makers make decisions, visit http://www.just-drinks.com

For further information and images please contact Ellie Ward, Public Relations at Aroq Limited on +44(0)1527-573-614, email ellie.ward@aroq.com

About the IWSR

The IWSR is the leading provider of data on wine, spirits and RTDs. The IWSR's database, essential to the industry, is used by all of the largest multinational wine and spirits companies, as well as many more local companies. The IWSR has a unique methodology which, by tapping into local country expertise, allows us to get closer to what is actually consumed and better understand how markets work. The IWSR conducts face-to-face interviews with 1,450 companies in 115 countries each year, with further input from 350 companies. The IWSR tracks overall consumption and trends at brand, quality and category level for wine, spirits and RTDs, and aims to provide data that is as accurate and detailed as possible.