Land of the rising exports

The Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association (JSS) released new sake export figures in a press release on 7 February 2025.

Based on Japanese Ministry of Finance customs data, the period Jan-Dec 2024 saw increases in both value and volume, with the former increasing to JPY 43.47 billion (105.8% compared to the previous year) and the latter to 31,000 kilolitres (106.4% compared to the previous year). This marks a welcome recovery from the slight downturn in 2023, although exports are not quite back to 2022 levels (JPY 47.49 billion, 36,000 kilolitres).

Highlights of the report include new records for exports to the US, South Korea, France and other countries, logistics continuing to improve after disruption from the pandemic and issues with overstock being resolved, and the number of import destinations reaching a record 80 countries and territories.

There wasn’t much movement in the top 3 export destinations for 2024, which were China, the US and Hong Kong (together making up 65% of the export market). Demand from China and Hong Kong decreased due to economic difficulties (China down to 93.7% on previous year, Hong Kong down to 84.9%) as recession affected demand from high-end Japanese restaurants and reduced outbound tourism.

In the US, by contrast, more restaurants and retailers started stocking sake resulting in increases in both value and volume of shipments (up to 125.9% on previous year). New records were set in Germany, France and Italy, and the increase was attributed to fine dining establishments targeting wealthy consumers putting sake on their menus, and the continued popularity of Japanese food creating more opportunities to serve sake. Exports to the EU plus the UK increased in value by 116.2% and in volume by 109.2% on the previous year, another new record.

Other strong increases in value on the previous year were seen in South Korea (129.1%), Canada (137.9%), Australia (121.4%), the UK (117.2%), France (113.0%), Germany (119.1%), the Netherlands (115.0%), Italy (117.2%), Spain (132.0%), the Philippines (133.9%) and United Arab Emirates (176.3%).

There were modest increases in Thailand, Malaysia and Brazil, and a slight decline in Singapore and Vietnam.

The Japanese sake and shōchū pavilion at ProWein 2024. (c) Arline Lyons

It’s always interesting to compare the top exporters by value and by volume, and for volume of exports the US led the table followed by China and Korea. There was a strong increase in volume (110% or more on the previous year) in the US, South Korea, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, France, Malaysia, Spain and Israel, with more modest increases for Singapore, Germany, the UK and Switzerland, and decreases for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Italy, Vietnam and Brazil.

So, in Italy for example, the value of exports is up and the volume is down, indicating a shift to buying higher-priced sake that is confirmed by a table of price per litre where Italy shows the strongest year-on-year growth of 130.9%.

Strong increases (110% or more on the previous year) were also seen in South Korea, the UK, Germany and Brazil, with more modest increases for China, the US, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Spain and the Philippines. There was a slight decrease (up to 90% fall year-on-year) for Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, Australia, France and the United Arab Emirates, while price per litre fell to 89.3% compared to the previous year in Malaysia and down to 80.4% in the Netherlands.

The report also notes the rise in tourism to Japan (over 36 million visitors in 2024, according to the Japan National Tourist Organization/JNTO), and increased interest in sake and Japanese culture following the inscription of traditional sake making using kōji as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in December 2024.

The JSS also outlines where they are focusing their efforts for 2025 and beyond: increasing consumption and purchase of sake among inbound tourists, developing breweries as tourist destinations, and promoting Japanese drinks at major international airports (Narita, Haneda, Chubu, Kansai, Shin-Chitose, Fukuoka). They will also run a Japanese drinks fair at the 2025 Osaka Expo highlighting sake and other products from all over Japan.

JSS partnered with the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) in 2022 with the aim of getting in front of wine sommeliers both at international competition level and when they are just starting out, to ensure that sake is an essential item in their repertoire. They also invite champion sommeliers to Japan, helping to make them ambassadors for Japanese culture and products in the gastronomy field. 

The fact that just three destinations account for 65% of exports has not gone unnoticed, and JSS hopes to reduce risk by increasing exports to other countries in the medium term. In wine-dominated countries such as the EU and UK, this will mean appealing to sommeliers through sake‘s wide variety of aroma and flavour and ease of pairing, combined with suggestions on how to serve it. For south-east Asian nations like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, population and economic growth suggest they will become new markets but each have their own legal and other restrictions which will need to be researched to develop an appropriate strategy for each country.

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Congratulations to all the hard-working sake importers, retailers and promoters! 

Overstocking due to unstable shipping conditions was one of my top picks for why exports went down last year. Hopefully as transport conditions continue to improve we’ll see a more regular flow of fresh sake!

Source: ＜プレスリリース＞2024年度日本酒輸出総額・数量発表 Press release sent by JSS PR office, 7 Feb 2025