Spirits: global economic impact study 2024
On behalf of the World Spirits Alliance (WSA), and in collaboration with the IWSR, Oxford Economics undertook the first ever truly global economic impact assessment of the production and sale of spirits across 185 economies in 2022.
Producing and selling spirits involve a wide range of economic activities and organisations, including distillers, distributors, supermarkets, bars, restaurants, hotels, and other venues enabling final consumers to buy and consume spirits. Global sales of spirits were worth $650 billion (excluding VAT) in 2022.
The study took a comprehensive approach, capturing the economic activity of producers and sellers of spirits, and the further impact stimulated by their supply-chain spending and the wage-funded spending of their employees and those of their suppliers. We tracked economic activity within countries and across their borders with Oxford Economics’ Global Sustainability Model.
The study found that the production and sale of spirits supported $730 billion in GVA contributions to global GDP, or 1 in every $140 of global GDP in 2022. Furthermore, this economic activity is estimated to have stimulated 36 million jobs and $390 billion in tax revenue for governments across the world.
The experts behind the research
Our Economic Consulting team are world leaders in quantitative economic analysis, working with clients around the globe and across sectors to build models, forecast markets and evaluate interventions using state-of-the art techniques. Lead consultants on this project were:
Francesca Biagini
Lead Economist
Ian Saxon
Associate Director
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