In 2024, overall alcoholic drinks in South Korea saw low growth in total volume terms and underwent various shifts. One noteworthy trend in 2024 was the rise in mindful drinking, and growing demand for low alcohol and no alcohol beverages. Instead of simply drinking to get intoxicated, more consumers are placing emphasis on taste and experience, often factoring in health and lifestyle considerations. Responding to this shift, companies have been actively launching new non-alcoholic or low ABV products and differentiating themselves with a variety of flavours and packaging.
Beer was the largest category within alcoholic drinks overall in 2024, with total volume sales seeing slightly above-average growth as consumers switched away from other alcoholic drinks, particularly wine. Domestic lager accounted for the largest share of sales, and also saw a more dynamic performance than imported lager. However, RTDs was the most dynamic category in 2024, with total volume sales rising significantly. The growth of RTDs was fuelled by the increasing popularity of convenient alcoholic drinks amongst younger consumers of legal drinking age, as well as by the rising interest in highballs and lower-alcohol drinks. Domestically, a continuous stream of new product launches and widespread promotions in retail channels, such as convenience stores and hypermarkets, further drove expansion.
Hite Jinro has long led alcoholic drinks in South Korea, and in 2024 it maintained its lead despite seeing a slight total volume share decline. It continued to lead shochu/soju in 2024, and maintained its strong second position in beer behind Oriental Brewery Co Ltd. However, its share declined due to the dynamic growth of RTDs, in which it has only a minor presence, as well as the better performance of Japanese beer brands compared with during the “No Japan” campaign. In shochu/soju, traditional high ABV soju faced challenges, as lower ABV variants gained popularity, putting pressure on its Jinro Chamisul product line, although it maintained its total volume share. Meanwhile, Terra maintained a sizeable total volume share in domestic lager, but saw a share decline in 2024.
Convenience stores remained the primary distribution channel for alcoholic drinks in South Korea in off-trade volume terms in 2024, which can largely be attributed to the accessibility and diverse product offerings of such outlets. Compared with drinks specialists or large supermarkets, consumers find it easier to discover new and trendy alcoholic beverages in convenience stores. This channel also saw solid growth in 2024, as major convenience store chains, including GS25, CU, 7-Eleven, and Emart24, have actively expanded their alcoholic drinks selections and introduced innovative marketing strategies to enhance customer engagement. Nevertheless, forecourt retailers saw the strongest volume growth from a low base, for similar reasons.
With on-trade sales seeing faster total volume growth than off-trade in 2024, there was a minor shift in share, although this was negligible, and on-trade sales continued to account for 37% of total volume sales, down from 42% pre-pandemic (2019). In 2024, although the on-trade channel maintained volume growth, it faced challenges returning to the 2019 level of sales and share in South Korea due to economic downturn and limited consumer spending. Rising costs for food and beverages, coupled with financial constraints, led to a continued lower number of visits to bars, pubs, and restaurants. Whiskies, which has long been dominated by on-trade consumption, has seen a noticeable shift towards off-trade channels such as convenience stores and supermarkets, and this continued in 2024.
Total volume sales of alcoholic drinks in Japan are set to fall over the forecast period, with on-trade sales set to see a stronger decline than off-trade, although both will see declines. While wine, spirits, and beer are expected to see low negative total volume CAGRs, RTDs is anticipated to maintain its dynamic growth trend. RTDs is expected to continue growing by capitalising on its convenience and wide product variety, potentially replacing some of the demand for imported and craft beer, or creating new demand. Nevertheless, its volumes will still remain far lower than the other alcoholic drinks categories due to its low base.
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Alcoholic Drinks
Alcoholic drinks is the aggregation of beer, wine, spirits, cider/perry and RTDs.
See all of our definitionsThis report originates from Passport, our Alcoholic Drinks research and analysis database.
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