Searching for a UK industry to raise your glass to? Look no further than Scotch whisky, which has seen its value to the UK economy increase by 1.6 per cent to more than £5bn.
According to a report from the Scotch Whisky Association, (SWA) the spirit is the leading commodity in terms of trade balance in the UK. The value of whisky exports was put at £4bn, with only £200m of its goods imported, giving it a trade balance of £3.8bn.
The industry is enjoying bumper levels of expansion, with nine new distilleries opening in the past two years and about 40 more in the pipeline. The sector supports more than 40,000 UK jobs and pays wages equivalent to more than £1.4bn.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Buoyed by the figures, the SWA said that the UK’s £35bn trade deficit would be around 11 per cent wider without the contribution of whisky. Chief executive David Frost claimed the figures re-emphasised the importance of the industry to the Scottish and wider UK economy.
Calling on the UK government to "redouble its efforts to support distillers", he adds: " At home, in the short term, a further two per cent duty cut in next month's budget would be a major boost, supporting small businesses that rely on the home market and further investment in the sector."
The United States remains the biggest export market for Scotch, with more than £326m shifted there in the first half of last year. Austerity measures in China have hurt sales but Asia is still seen as an attractive long-term market.
-
What to know before turning to AI for financial advicethe explainer It can help you crunch the numbers — but it might also pocket your data
-
Book reviews: 'The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction—and a Search for Relief' and 'Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run'Feature The search for a headache cure and revisiting Springsteen's 'Born to Run' album on its 50th anniversary
-
Keith McNally' 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
-
Labour shortages: the ‘most urgent problem’ facing the UK economy right nowSpeed Read Britain is currently in the grip of an ‘employment crisis’
-
Will the energy war hurt Europe more than Russia?Speed Read European Commission proposes a total ban on Russian oil
-
Will Elon Musk manage to take over Twitter?Speed Read The world’s richest man has launched a hostile takeover bid worth $43bn
-
Shoppers urged not to buy into dodgy Black Friday dealsSpeed Read Consumer watchdog says better prices can be had on most of the so-called bargain offers
-
Ryanair: readying for departure from LondonSpeed Read Plans to delist Ryanair from the London Stock Exchange could spell ‘another blow’ to the ‘dwindling’ London market
-
Out of fashion: Asos ‘curse’ has struck againSpeed Read Share price tumbles following the departure of CEO Nick Beighton
-
Universal Music’s blockbuster listing: don’t stop me now…Speed Read Investors are betting heavily that the ‘boom in music streaming’, which has transformed Universal’s fortunes, ‘still has a long way to go’
-
EasyJet/Wizz: battle for air supremacySpeed Read ‘Wizz’s cheeky takeover bid will have come as a blow to the corporate ego’
