Homeland News
by James Bailey
Published: June 10, 2024
A recent report by the Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA) highlighted the significant economic impact of the UK wine and spirits industry, which contributed more than £76 billion to the economy in 2022. This represents a significant increase on the £49 billion recorded During five years ago.
Commissioned by WSTA and produced by the Center for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), the economic analysis study highlights the vital role of the sector, generating more than £22 billion in gross value added (GVA) last year.
The UK remains a world leader in the wine and spirits market, being the second largest importer of wine, with imports equivalent to 1.7 billion bottles in 2022. It also maintains its position as the largest exporter of spirits, shipping 1.8 billion bottles in 2022. The same year.
Cebr economists revealed that the industry supported 413,000 jobs in 2022, including 219,000 jobs in the spirits sector and 193,000 jobs in the wine sector.
Owen Judd, head of economic consultancy at Cebr, said: “These figures, highlighted by the industry supporting more than 400,000 FTE jobs in 2022, show the significant economic contribution that the wine and spirits industries make to the UK economy.” “This economic support is driven in particular by the notable contribution of retailers to trade, while much of the economic activity supported across the value chain is supported by a strong (and growing) local production industry.”
Miles Bell, Chief Executive of the WSTA, emphasized the key role of the industry in the UK economy: “This report comes as a timely reminder of the importance of the wine and spirits industry to the UK economy. In total, £22.6 billion of gross value added is being added to The UK's economy is made up of trade, of which 46% comes from internal trade.
Looking to the future, Bell expressed the WSTA's intention to collaborate with the next government to foster further investment, innovation and growth: “We hope that MPs, ministers and officials will all want to work in close partnership with our industry over the next lifetime.” Parliament – Recognizing the great value of wine and spirits to the national economy, and working together to achieve economic growth, improved environmental outcomes, and social responsibility.
WSTA has identified ten key demands for the incoming government, categorized under three main themes:
Economically sustainable industry:
Make the temporary wine easement permanent and expire on February 1, 2025
Ensuring the effective functioning of the UK internal market
Changes to the excise tax are enacted once a year, on a specified date
Prevent negative impacts resulting from post-Brexit regulatory divergence on international trade and prioritize the digitization of customs procedures
Environmentally sustainable industry:
Delay entering Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) until the details are finalized
Ensure that deposit and returns systems (DRS) across the UK are interoperable with common fees, labeling requirements and materials within scope, excluding glass.
Reform the packaging recovery note (PRN) system to increase transparency
Socially sustainable industry:
Allow the industry to submit responsible drinking and harm reduction proposals to government
Support voluntary access to additional health and nutritional information on labels using technological solutions such as QR codes
Streamlining the production, labeling and marketing of no- and low-alcohol products, including raising the “no alcohol” threshold to 0.5% abv
