Greek alcoholic beverages exports set a historic record in 2022, with ouzo being the “flagship” of the exports According to Eurostat data processed by SEAOP, the significant increase of exports exceeded the pre-covid levels.
Ouzo remains the “flagship” of the sector’s exports, while Germany is in first place in terms of destination countries for Greek spirits.
According to the data of SEOAP compared to 2021, there was an increase of 11.8% in value (from 86.5 million euros to 96.7 million euros) and 5.6% in quantity (from 36 million .kg to 38 million kg)
Compared to the pre-pandemic levels, i.e. in relation to 2019, the export figures show a leap both in terms of value (+27%) and in terms of quantity (10%). In terms of the last 5 years as a whole, this year shows a perennial increase in Greek alcoholic beverages exports in value by 28%, but also in quantity by 15%.
The average selling price of alcoholic beverages recorded an increase of 11%, which illustrates the continuous increase in average price over the previous 5 years.
Countries – Destinations
The EU-27 Member States are consistently the most important destinations for Greek spirits, with a percentage of 73% in value and 75% in quantity. Exports within the EU-27 show an increase in absolute terms by EUR 5.5 million (+8.57%) in value and by 0.5 million Kg (+2%) in quantity, compared to 2021. Except EU-27 there is an increase of 21.7% in value and 17.9% in quantity.
Germany remains in first place, as the main country of export of Greek alcoholic beverages, as 38.2% (36.9 million euros) of the Greek distillery in value is sent to this country. They are followed by Iraq [!] with 17.3 million euros, Bulgaria with 8.1 million euros, the Czech Republic with 4.3 million euros, Poland with 3.9 million euros & France with 3.5 million euros.
Ouzo at the top of exports
The flagship of exports remains ouzo, which, despite the fact that it competes with similar drinks from countries such as Italy, Spain, France, etc., has been established internationally due to its high quality.
It has always been the main exported product of the Greek distillery, occupying in the last year (2022) 61% of the value and 70% of the quantity of all exports of Greek spirits. In 2022, it records a percentage increase in the value of its exports internationally by 11.93% and in quantity by 3.65%.
Ouzo exports within the EU-27 in 2022 show an increase in value by 2.24%, while in quantity they show a decrease by -3.52%, compared to 2021, while outside the EU-27 there was a significant increase of 33.6% in value and 23.2% in quantity.
At the same time, the exports of tsipouro and tsikoudia, although they represent a very small share (2% in value & 1% in quantity) of all exports, record a steady rise, the percentage increase, compared to 2021, is 11.7% in value and 19.1% in quantity.
Exports within the EU-27 in 2022 showed a significant increase of 18.3% in value and 29% in quantity compared to 2021. A slight decrease was shown in Third countries ( -0.1% in value and -4.4% in quantity). Compared to 2020, the overall increase is 40% in value and 56% in quantity.
