To help earn badly needed foreign currency
after the war, the industry organised a voluntary scheme
for restricting releases of Scotch Whisky to the home
market. This lasted until 1954, but not until 1960-61
did releases reach their pre-war level. Since that time
regular and severe increases in Excise Duty have
artificially restricted releases from bond which would
reasonably have been expected to rise steadily with
increasing prosperity.
Scotch Whisky is one of Britain's principal export
products, earning large amounts of foreign currency each
year. Exporting is nothing new to the industry and even
before the war, Scotch Whisky sales abroad accounted for
over 50 per cent of the total. Today exports represent
around 85 per cent of all Scotch Whisky sales.
© SWA 1995