Mexico City, Mexico — The tequila industry for Mexico has again, broken an export record with more than 220 million liters sent abroad.
In a public statement, the Cámara Reguladora del Tequila (Tequila Registry Chamber) says that in 2018, 222.7 million liters of Mexican tequila was shipped globally, reflecting a 5.5 percent increase over the previous year.
In terms of production, the Chamber says they exceeded their goal of 300 million liters, producing 309.1 million liters which was a 13.9 percent increase over 2017. These figures show 2018 as the second highest production year after 2008, when Mexico produced 312 million liters of tequila.
The Tequila Registry Chamber says that the United States leads the way in tequila imports from Mexico with 82.5 percent followed by Germany, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Japan, Canada, Latvia and South Africa.
They say that while premium white and silver tequilas are the preference, mescal (mezcal) tequila, which is produced from a different agave and distilled differently, had the highest growth rate of 34.1 percent.
“Tequila currently represents 1.0 percent of the global spirits market, so there is still an important possibility of growth,” said Rodolfo González, president of The Tequila Registry Chamber.
President of the Regulatory Council of Tequila, Miguel Angel Dominguez Morales, commented that “without a doubt it is a reflection of the effort of each one of the links of this productive chain of agaveros, tequila industrialists, packers, marketers and the Mexican government.”
Dominguez Morales added that Mexican tequila is exported to 120 countries.
