Browse Data and Analysis

Beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage in Chile and represents 77 percent of total sales of alcohol beverages by volume. Per capita consumption of beer has grown rapidly in the past 20 years Chile reaching 59 liters in 2022.

Korea’s beer imports reached $218 million in 2023, up 11.8 percent from $195 million in 2022, but still 30 percent down from the record high of $310 million in 2018. Although Korea’s beer imports have been decreasing since the pandemic, the United States increased exports of beer to Korea in 2023, reaching $17.9 million, up 43% from $12.5 million in 2022.

Korea’s wine import sector has been undergoing a stabilizing phase since the explosive growth around 2021. In 2023, wine imports reached 506 million USD, down 12.9 percent from the previous year, totaling 56.5 million kg, a decrease of 20.4 percent compared to 2022.

On July 7, 2024, Chile’s new alcoholic beverages labeling law will come into force. The law aims to warn drivers, pregnant women, and minors about the impacts of consuming alcohol and to restrict the advertisements that could be directed to minors.

Ample opportunities exist for U.S. agricultural exports to South Korea. Highlighted in the chart above, U.S. agricultural product exports were a record $9.5 billion in 2022, up 2 percent from 2021. South Korea is the sixth largest export market for the United States, thanks in part to a successful free trade agreement (KORUS) between the two countries and a robust demand for high-quality U.S. food products.

Chile has a growing and dynamic distilled spirits industry, with a particular focus on pisco production.

Chile is the second-largest South American market for U.S. agricultural products. Solid political institutions and a stable macroeconomic environment, combined with high consumer purchasing power, make Chile a lucrative market for U.S. producers of wheat, cheese, pet food, alcoholic beverages, and other consumer-oriented products.

The wine production area in Chile spans from the Atacama to Araucania region, with vineyards scattered up and down the regions’ valleys. Chilean area planted for wine totaled 130,086 hectares in 2021.

Chile remains the largest South American consumer-oriented market for U.S. exporters. Increasing wealth, lower barriers to entry, and the modern Chilean economy present opportunities for increased agricultural trade as COVID-19 restrictions and social-political tensions ease.

On February 22, 2022, the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture's Livestock and Agricultural Service modified the testing requirement for U.S. beer shipments to Chile. Beer from the United States will no longer need to be tested upon arrival to Chile.

The Republic of Korea (Korea) is a developed Asian country with a global presence in high-tech, automobile, and electronics industries. Korea is an industrial powerhouse with a skilled labor force.

South Korean wine imports reached a record $330 million in 2020, up 27 percent from 2019.