TOKYO: Japan’s liquor exports reached an all-time high for a fourth straight year in 2015 as whiskey and sake produced in the country gained more popularity overseas. Liquor exports jumped 33% from 2014 to 39 billion yen ($350 million) last year, according to the National Tax Agency. The figure has more than tripled in the last decade.
Sake exports rose 21.8% in 2015 to 14 billion yen. Japanese whiskey exports totaled 10.3 billion yen, up 77.4%. Beer exports topped those of whiskey in 2014, but the situation reversed in 2015, as beer exports increased 29.9% to 8.5 billion yen.
Demand for Japanese whiskey has been particularly strong in Europe, spurred in part by the 2015 edition of the Whisky Bible, a renowned British guidebook, naming Suntory’s Yamazaki the world’s finest whiskey.
The U.S. was the top destination for Japan’s liquor exports, with a gain of 48.2% on the year to 9.4 billion yen. South Korea followed with a 31.2% jump to 6.4 billion yen. The surge in exports is in sharp contrast to domestic demand, which is waning as younger consumers shun alcohol.
