That’s according to an annual market report from Drinks Ireland|Spirits which shows that the value of spirits exports fell last year to €990 million from €1.18 billion in 2019.
It attrributes the decline to the collapse of global travel retail, the second largest market for Irish whiskey and fourth largest for Irish cream liqueur before Covid. Recovery “could be slow,” it says.
The overall global sales volume of Ireland’s spirits declined slightly, from 20.4 million nine-litre cases in 2019 to 19.7 million last year, the report says. The most popular markets for Irish spirits last year were the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Ireland respectively.
A separate report shows the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the drinks and hospitality industry, which is expected to employ 140,000 people next year, down 40,000 from the fourth quarter of 2019.
Drinks Ireland is urging the government to reduce bev/al taxes, noting that in “high-income European countries like France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, where drinks and hospitality businesses are equally important to international exports and tourism, excise tax is significantly lower. For example, a pint of beer served in a German bar is levied with just 5 cents of excise compared to 55 cents in Ireland. In France, a glass of wine has an excise tax of just 1 cent, and in Italy and Spain zero.
‘In Italy, excise tax on a 70cl bottle of Irish whiskey, which is €2.90, is lower than the excise tax on a bottle of Irish whiskey produced and sold in Ireland, where it is €11.92.
‘Lowering excise tax on drinks products by 7.5% requires no new legislation or EU approval. The Government can do it quite literally overnight, with overnight benefits for drinks and hospitality business owners and their employees.’