T. Ozbun
Research expert covering food retail and all food topics for Italy and Brazil
Get in touch with us nowSpirits production and sales
In 2019, there were 561 companies operating in the industry of distilling, rectifying, and blending of spirits in Italy. The sold production value peaked in that year at approximately 1.3 billion euros before decreasing to about 1.2 billion euros in 2020. The volume of spirits produced in 2019 amounted to around 1.2 million hectoliters, rising to 1.6 million hectoliters two years later. Although online sales of spirits have grown and are expected to grow in the future, most of the revenue is still generated offline. Distilled spirits and brandies accounted for the largest share of spirits sales, with grappa and whiskey topping the list in their category, but sales of sweet lemon-based liqueurs, such as the famous limoncello, also reached considerable figures.Trade and consumption
The European Union was the main destination area for spirits exported from Italy, followed closely by North America. Italy also imported a large amount of spirits and liqueurs: around 705 thousand hectoliters in 2020, most of which consisted of grain distillates, followed by rum and tafia.Consumption of spirits in Italy had shown a steady growth in past years, until 2020, when due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Italians had decided to reduce their alcohol consumption. Men made up the majority of spirits consumers in Italy. When it comes to age, younger Italians aged between 20 and 24 were the most likely to have consumed spirits at least once. In addition, the percentage of spirits consumers from the south and islands was lower than the rest of the country.
