1| India
Scotch whisky’s largest export market is India, which regained top spot in 2024. It is way out in front in terms of volume and the popularity in the country looks like it will only continue to grow. 2024 sales saw a staggering 192 million bottles exported there from Scotland – this is a rise of 14.6% compared with 167 million bottles in 2023, and a rise of 46.6% from pre-Covid levels in 2019 (131 million bottles).
2| France
The French love Scotch whisky and easily drink more of it than their native Cognac, Armagnac and Calvados combined. The market remains stable with small amounts of growth last year against 2023 and 2019 figures. A modest increase of 1.9% saw 177 million bottles shipped to France in 2024, vs. 174 million in 2023 and 173 million in 2019.
3| USA
America sits in third place for volume with 132 million bottles of Scotch whisky exported there in 2024. The market is hugely consistent with 127 million bottles sent over in 2023 (a 3.7% increase) – this represents the same figure as the pre-Covid 2019 level. However, the US was the biggest export market for Scotch in terms of value last year, with exports worth £971 million (US$1.2 billion). However, potential issues are looming if Trump’s tariffs get agreed …
4| Japan
The Japanese have long had the taste for Scotch whisky, but recent trends have shown a real increased thirst for the product. Last year, Japan imported 70 million bottles – this is a sharp rise of 22.4% against 60 million bottles in 2023, with 2019 levels hitting that same figure. After years of stable sales, it seems that Japan is about to take off.
5| Spain
The Top 5 is completed by Spain, which is one of the world’s most consistent markets for Scotch whisky. There has been minimal growth from pre-Covid times to now – 57 million bottles were imported in 2019, 58 million n 2023 and 59 million in 2024, representing a slight overall increase of 3.7%.
6| Germany
The German market was one of the few to buck the growth trend and see imported Scotch whisky volumes drop in 2024. Numbers were down by 6.1% vs. 2023 with 56 million and 59 million bottles exported to Germany respectively. However, last year’s figure still represents an increase of 12.6% since 2019 when 50 million bottles arrived.
7| Brazil
The South American giant saw one of the world’s largest increases in Scotch whisky volume in 2024. Prior to that, imports had remained relatively stable for several years. Before Covid, 43 million bottles were exported to Brazil – this remained the same in 2023. But last year, this rocketed up to 52 million representing a 22.8% rise. A key and emerging big player.
8| Poland
Another market that has experienced consistent growth in volume of Scotch whisky imports over the last few years. Last year saw 48 million bottles arrive, a 5.6% increase compared to 45 million in 2023. But this represents a huge rise since 2019 and pre-Covid times when Scotland exported 33 million bottles – this is 46.9% growth overall.
9| Turkey
Turkey is one of the fastest growing markets for Scotch whisky in the world and the figures show it. In 2019, just 15 million bottles were imported by the country. Last year saw 47 million arrive – this is a staggering increase of 216.2% vs. 2019 and a rise of six million bottles and 14% against 2023. Another country that has emerged from nowhere.
10| China
It may surprise some that this powerhouse sits so low on the list, but China only imported 30 million bottles of Scotch whisky last year. This shows a slight decline of 1.7% against the 2023 figure of 31 million bottles. That said, it still shows a healthy increase (77.3%) when compared with the 2019 pre-Covid numbers of 17 million.
