Imported alcohol in Korea: Country ranking

South Korea is a major Asian player in alcohol import. You will see below what countries are taking the most market share in Korea and you may be surprised by this TOP10 ! 😉

As a reminder, South Korea imported 870M EUR of alcohol in 2021 (+33 % in value from 2020 to 2021).

Here is how the top 10 shared this market of 870M EUR in 2021 :

1. France 178M EUR

2. UK 137M EUR

3. USA 103M EUR

4. Italy 80M EUR

5. Chile 63M EUR

6. China 44M EUR

7. Netherlands 39M EUR

8. Spain 37M EUR

9. Australia 26M EUR

10. Belgium 23M EUR

Are you surprised by this ranking ?

Now, let’s see how alcohol import evolved between 2019 and 2021 in Korea. In volume, there is a 16% drop but the good news is that import in values increased significantly (+28%).

The countries that stand out for the best import growth in VALUE in Korea since 2019 are :

1. Australia +134%

2. Italy +112%

3. Spain +65%

4. France +54%

5. Chili +46%

6. USA +43%

If we take the same countries but ranked with the IMPORT VOLUME evolution :

1) Australia +104%

2) Italy +65%

3) France +54%

4) Chili +46%

5) Spain +20%

6) USA -40%

We can understand from these data that the demand for US alcohol in Korea is shifting towards high end products whereas US export extremely less in volume.

In the next article we will deep dive more specifically into the wine (still and sparkling) import data and some key market trends for spirits and beers in South Korea.