Scotch whisky sales worth £75 every second

[John]

EXPORTS of Scotch whisky are now worth £75 every second to Scotland.

Whisky bosses have toasted new figures which revealed exports of Scotch rose 4% last year to break the £2billion barrier for the 13th year in a row.

Sales of "the water of life" hit £2.363bn after a big boost in sales to Asia and America - the industry's third best annual export performance.

Almost 990million bottles of the top brands of Scotch - such as Johnnie Walker and Glenfiddich - were sold to more than 200 countries around the world during 2005.

That means that 31 bottles of whisky every second are now flowing out of Scotland.

Expensive malt brands were among the best sellers with exports in the malt sector soaring 8% to total a record £380m.

The Scotch Whisky Association said the latest figures were "good news" for distillers and the near 50,000 Scottish jobs which depend on the industry.

The 2005 figures reveal exports to Asia jumped by a quarter (24%) as important markets for Scotch continued to develop.

It was a record year for sales in China - as reported in the Evening Times when First Minister Jack McConnell announced on Monday during a visit there - with exports jumping 84% to £46m.

Just six years ago exports to China were worth only worth £1m. Exports to Thailand rose 25% to £48m.

Source: Evening Times