Specialty spirits had a clear domination in the Chinese spirits market with a share of 83%, according to a report by Canadean - Wine & Spirits.
The report, "Consumer Trends in the Spirits Market in China, 2011", finds that the other spirit categories had only minor shares, with whiskey holding 7%, brandy 5%, gin & genever, liqueurs, rum, tequila & mezcal and vodka sharing the remaining 5%.
Among the consumers, young adults aged 25-34 held the highest share of 25% closely followed by pre-mid-lifers of 35-44 years with 24%.
The spirits market was highly concentrated in the urban areas with 98%, while the rural consumers formed just over 2%.
Male consumers outnumbered the females by nearly 20%.
Income levels of consumers did not have an influence on the consumption of spirits as the affluent section led the market with 41%, followed by the hard pressed section with 23%.
Better value for money and changing life stages were the most influencing trends with 28.5% and 27.4% respectively.
Individuals educated up to the undergraduate level formed 65.5% of the market, while the lower secondary education level consumers held the least share of 1%.
Consumers who had three to five hours of leisure time formed 39% of the market, followed by those having five to seven hours. Individuals with less than one hour of leisure time a day contributed only 2% to the market.
Over 85% of the Chinese spirits market is held by branded labels against private ones.
