In 2023 the wine market lost 1.7 billion compared to 2022: Italy holds up: -0.8% in value

A difficult year for world wine, as already written by WineNews, thanks to a series of factors ranging from the effects of inflation to international tensions, from climate change to duties (such as those of China against Australia) and then the increase in costs, from energy to fuel, without forgetting the ongoing process which sees the change in consumption as perhaps the most complex challenge the sector is facing. But it is also true that the numbers must be analyzed in the round and overcoming 2022, a record year, was a difficult task for wine which in a complicated 2023 has given signs of vitality, starting from the sparkling wine category. A trend also confirmed by the initial data for 2024, which sees Italian wine exports, in the first two months, +9.5% in value and +8.2% in volume over the same period in 2023. Returning to the overall data for 2023, reports the Observatorio Espanol del Mercado del Vino (Oemv), analyzed by WineNews, world wine trade decreased by 6.5% in volume, stopping at 9.8 billion liters (-679 million). In terms of value, however, there was a drop of 4.7% and therefore to 35.9 billion euros (-1.7 billion) with the average price increasing slightly by 1.9% over 2022, in part due to inflationary pressure, with 3.66 euros per liter, a record. Exactly as happened in 2009 (during the “Great Recession” period) and 2020 (Covid), the years of global economic crisis do not even spare wine.
In 2023, all types of wine decreased in volume, although sparkling wines and bag in boxes grew by 0.8% in value. Bottled wine was the one that recorded the greatest decline in absolute terms, but retains its “leading” role with 52% of the volume and 67% of total value. Bulk wine is the only one that has dropped in price in 2022, the year in which it had increased significantly and is the positive protagonist of the world wine trade in the last years. However, sparkling wine did very well, recording a slight increase (0.8%) in value in 2023, reaching its historic maximum, approaching 8.9 billion euros (+70 million) even though its volume decreased by 4% on a record 2022, falling to 1.07 billion liters (-45 million), with an average price that exceeds the rest of the categories, up to 8.27 euros/liter (+5%), the highest in the historical series (the previous record dates back to 2007 with 7.91 euro/liter).
Overall, among the 13 main wine markets, in value, the sign is negative for almost all. Only the Netherlands (+0.8% in value and +0.5%in volume) grew in both indices. The United States is the one to have reduced its wine imports the most in 2023, stopping at 806 million euros and 206 million liters, reaching 6.18 billion euros (-11.5%) and 1.22 billion liters (-15%). It remains the world’s largest wine market in value, but is overtaken by Germany and the Uk in volume. Germany therefore becomes the first world market in volume, with 1.36 billion liters (-0.5%), remaining in third place in value, with 2.67 billion euros (-4%). The United Kingdom, the second market in value with 4.8 billion euros, lost 3% (-158 million euros) and 5% in volume (-67 million liters), reaching 1.23 billion liters. The losses recorded by Canada (-321 million euros and -43 million liters) and China (-297 million euros and -88 million liters) stand out, continuing to the overall decline in the global wine trade.
The sum of Italy, Spain and France represented, in 2023, 56% of the volume and 63% of the total value of wine exported to the world. Italy remains the world’s leading exporter of wine by volume, with 2.13 billion liters (-1%), followed by Spain 2.08 billion liters (-2.9%) and France with 1.27 billion liters (-8.7%). Italy is the country that has lost the least in volume, with a drop of 21 million liters in 2022, compared to 62 million in Spain and 122 million in France which, in this century, had done worse only in 2009. Despite moving away from Italy and Spain in terms of volume, France maintains its notable leadership in value, with 11.97 billion euros (-2.7%), the second best figure in its history, after 12.3 billion euros in 2022, therefore losing 330 million euros. Italy follows at a distance with 7.77 billion euros (-64 million, -0.8%) and even further away is Spain which reaches 2.96 billion euros (-2.6% equivalent to a reduction of 78 million euros).