The Business side of things

There haven’t been a lot of news-worthy items for me to comment on lately, so I’ll take this lull to talk about the importance of the Scotch whisky industry to the United Kingdom’s bottom line. We’ll also take a quick look at the growth (and shrinkage in the industry) over the past few years.
This data is courtesy of the Scotch Whisky Association, which produces an informational pamphlet each year called Scotch At A Glance.

Interesting statistics

• Scotch whisky accounts for more than 20% of United Kingdom food and drink exports.
• 10% of Scottish agriculture jobs rely on the industry.
• 1 in 50 Scottish jobs rely on the industry.
• There are approximately 18.5 millions casks of whisky currently maturing in warehouses.
• 88.4 million cases were sold worldwide in 2004.
• Laid end to end they would stretch 16,807 miles - or three times the distance between Edinburgh and Shanghai.
• 9,800 employed in the Scotch Whisky industry.
• Greeks drink more scotch whisky per person than in any other country.
• More Scotch is sold in France in a month than Cognac is sold in a year.

Sales and the Bottom Line

• Exports generated £2.24 billion for the UK balance of trade.
• European Union sales (excluding the UK) of £900m.
• Exports earned £71 every second.
• EU (excluding UK) sales were worth £28.50 per second.
• Scotch Whisky is one of the UK's top five export earners.
• 30 bottles were sold overseas each second.
• Exports were worth £228,077 per employee.
• £800 million contributed to the Exchequer in taxes.
• Tax to the UK Treasury from Scotch Whisky companies amounted to £81,574 for each employee.

Chart of consumption in the top ten export markets from 2000-2004

It's interesting to note that although the consumption in France is the highest, the actual dollar value to the industry is third. Apparently there are favorable trade terms between the UK and France, which lower the price on each bottle to the point that the US is the highest dollar market for Scotch whisky; Spain is second, and France is third.

Annual volume of whisky distilled 1994-2003

Volume & value of exports from 1995-2004