A prolonged economic slump pulled whiskey consumption in South Korea down 11 percent in the first three months of the year, industry data showed Tuesday.

According to the data, whiskey consumption reached 450,934 boxes in the January-March period, sharply down from 506,449 boxes a year ago. A box contains 18 0.5-liter bottles.

Diageo Korea Co., the South Korean unit of the British liquor company, saw its flagship whiskey brand Windsor’s sales fall 18.1 percent to 180,947 boxes from a year ago, but continued to retain the No.1 ranking in the local whiskey market.

Pernod Ricard Korea, a local unit of France’s Pernod Ricard Group, sold 127,244 boxes of Imperial, one of its whiskey brands, down 7.2 percent from a year ago. (Yonhap News)