According to Wine Intelligence, South Korea is a constantly growing market to which Italian wineries should pay close attention.
“For the second consecutive year, South Korea is the second most attractive wine market globally according to the Wine Intelligence Wine Market Appealness Compass Model 2021”.
In recent years, wine consumption in South Korea has grown significantly and in particular last year the consumption of still wine increased by about 20% in volume. According to IWSR, this trend will continue unceasingly until 2025 and will not only concern still wines, but also sparkling ones. Positive trend also for prices per bottle, which are higher than in other Asian wine markets.
The main factors that supported this growth, especially in the last year, were essentially two. The former, and perhaps most significant, was the Korean government’s loosening of laws affecting the purchase of alcohol online; this has allowed a democratization of information to the consumer about the wine he is buying. The latter was the growing interest in wine consumption by younger consumers.
“Only 13% of South Korean adults state to drink wine on a weekly basis; number up +31% since 2017. Wine Intelligence estimates that the population drinking wine in South Korea has increased by just under one million drinkers since 2017 and about half of these newcomers are aged between 19 and 24 years old. South Korean consumers have truly embraced wine as a must-have drink at home during the tough months of Covid. In addition, the younger generation began to prefer wine due to the lower ABV (alcohol by volume) level than that of other spirits. Wineries need to look to young drinkers to help support long-term growth”.
The complete Wine Intelligence article is available here.