The market report, which was presented at the Vinexpo Bordeaux 2013 press conference in London today, forecasts the Chinese spirit will represent close to half of the world’s spirits consumption (3.3bn 9-litre cases) by 2016 when it will stand at 1.4bn cases.
That would make baijiu almost three times the size of its nearest competitor vodka, which between 2012-2016 is expected to increase 1.6% to 494m cases.
Spirits consumption growth will be driven by Asia Pacific, which now accounts for 61.5% of total consumption, the report said.
In volume terms the region’s consumption has grown from 1.9bn cases in 2007 to 2.2bn cases in 2016, a rise of 13.6%, while in value it will increase 30.7% from $148.4bn to $193.9bn over the ten year period.
While Europe is expected to decline in consumption, the Americas is a region of optimism for the sector and will see a 5.38% rise from 2007-2016, ending the period with consumption value of $76bn, the report forecasted.
