Korea Whisky Import Market
Whisky imports into South Korea — origin share, the suppliers shipping most often, and how volume has moved month to month.
Updated Aug 2026 · from official Korean import declarations
- Korea logged 3,668 whisky import declarations in the last six months, down 2% on the six months before.
- United Kingdom is the largest origin with 73.4% of all shipments (6,386).
- Japan is growing fastest among established origins — up 58% over the last three months against the three before.
- Ireland is losing ground, down 46% over the same window.
- 14 overseas suppliers shipped whisky to Korea for the first time in the last three months.
Monthly shipments — whisky
the 6 before
Each declaration is one customs filing, not one container — a useful proxy for how often a market is being served rather than for tonnage.
Where it comes from
Origin share and momentum
| Origin | Shipments | Share | 3m vs prior 3m |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 6,386 | 73.4% | ▼ 4% |
| United States | 1,459 | 16.8% | ▼ 18% |
| Japan | 274 | 3.1% | ▲ 58% |
| Taiwan | 154 | 1.8% | ▼ 6% |
| Ireland | 136 | 1.6% | ▼ 46% |
| Australia | 104 | 1.2% | ▼ 18% |
| France | 79 | 0.9% | — |
| Spain | 37 | 0.4% | — |
| Canada | 10 | 0.1% | — |
| Sweden | 9 | 0.1% | — |
Growth is suppressed where the earlier window holds fewer than 20 shipments — a move from three to nine is not a trend.
Top suppliers to Korea
| # | Overseas manufacturer | Ships |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CHIVAS BROTHERS LIMITED | 1,016 |
| 2 | DIAGEO SCOTLAND LIMITED | 978 |
| 3 | WILLIAM GRANT&SONS LTD | 592 |
| 4 | THE GLENMORANGIE COMPANY LTD | 398 |
| 5 | WILLIAM GRANT&SONS DISTILLERS LIMITED | 348 |
| 6 | BEAM SUNTORY UK LTD | 337 |
| 7 | THE BENRIACH DISTILLERY COMPANY LIMITED | 280 |
| 8 | SKYY SPIRITS, LLC | 252 |
| 9 | BUFFALO TRACE DISTILLERY, INC | 236 |
| 10 | JIM BEAM BRANDS CO | 223 |
- 1Hosuqi Pinazu Fateq Pak457
- 2Keni Wifocaf Ciq Rul446
- 3Qudi Vur Win397
- 4Zamido Hojop Tit Har371
- 5Suji Ralizan Winip Jof349
- 6Padiliwoh Hakijow Naz Jit286
- 7Roqogub Gigu273
171 Korean companies import whisky.
This report does not name them.
KoreanImportData tracks every one of them — who they buy from, which origins they switched to, how often they ship and when they last imported. Search the full register by product, company or country, in English.
Every account starts free with five lookups — no card required.
These twelve are the biggest categories, not the only ones. The register covers every food, beverage, nutraceutical and packaging item type Korea imports.
Request a custom reportMethod and coverage
Figures are counts of individual import declarations lodged with the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, covering Jul 2025 to Aug 2026. This report covers the official item type Whisky — matched on the declared item type only, never on product-name text, so unrelated goods cannot be pulled in by a keyword.
Origin is the declared country of manufacture, not the country the goods were shipped from, which can differ where a distributor re-exports.
Company and product names are translated or transliterated from the official Korean record and may be imperfect; the Korean record is authoritative. One manufacturer can appear under more than one plant or spelling.
The register is reloaded monthly and this page is rebuilt with it. Figures here will differ from a report you read last month, by design.