Korean Soju Brands Top Global Spirit Sales
By wchung | 22 May, 2025

Jinro and Lotte Liquor, S. Korea’s number 1 and number 3 soju makers, are also the world’s first and third best selling spirits, outselling brands that make more widely distributed spirits like vodka, whiskey and rum, according to the British trade journal Drinks International quoting research from Euromonitor.

Jinro soju had 2011 sales of 61.38 million boxes while Smirnoff vodka came in second with 24.7 million cases. Lotte sold 23.9 million cases of soju. Each case contains 9 liters.

Despite the fact that soju is drunk mainly in S. Korea and in cities like Los Angeles and New York that have significant Korean populations, Jinro and Lotte combined to sell 85.28 million cases while the far more globally famous Johnny Walker whiskey sold only 18 million and Ballantines sold 6.47 million.

These statistics are bad news for the health of Koreans who drank 296.1 million liters of alcoholic beverages in 2011, or about 8.5 liters for every adult in the country, according to a survey by the Korea Alcohol and Liquor Industry Association. Soju made up 117.8 million of those liters, with the far less potent beer making up 173.9 million.

While Koreans rank only 13th in the world in overall liquor consumptions, they rank first in distilled spirits, according to a 2005 study by the World Health Organization. Most of this consumption takes place during drinking binges rather than as more healthful accompaniment to meals. Excessive alcohol consumption is blamed for the high incidences of stomach and colon cancers among Koreans.

“Just one bottle of soju exceeds the WHO standard for binge drinking,” said Chang Ki-hoon at the Korean Alcohol Research Foundation.