Exports and bottled still wines: the USA, France and New Zealand are at the top in unit value

Italian wines are now acknowledged, throughout the world, of the highest quality level, and not inferior to any other producing country. Further, Italy’s immense variety of denominations, vines and territories, according to all International critics, is a plus for diversifying the offer, creating distinctiveness and fascinating the most passionate consumers. But, Italy still has to win the challenge of value, because the prices of Italian wines going to the world markets are still too low, compared to those of many competitors. Wine producers are very well aware of this issue, which is not easy to work on, however, short of a drop in consumption at a global level, making it even more difficult, although inevitable, to work on positioning. The issue becomes more delicate looking at still wines, which is the type that suffers the most, but still represents two-thirds of Italian wine shipments around the world. The analysis of the American Association of Wine Economists, as a matter of fact, focuses precisely on the value of exported bottled still wines (2022 data). It showed a wide gap between Italy and France (the gap would be even wider if the comparison also included bubbles, given the economic weight of Champagne), and other Countries as well. According to data from COMTRADE, the United Nations world trade statistics agency, analyzed by American wine economists, the absolute record in unit value goes to the USA, at a value of 8.43 US dollars per liter, second place goes to France, at 7.67 US dollars per liter, and third place to New Zealand, at 6.12 US dollars.
Italy did not even win the “wooden medal”, to use Olympic jargon, since fourth place went to Australia, at 4.67 US dollars, so Italy took only fifth place, as the average price of its exported bottled still wines is 4.54 US dollars per liter. It is only slightly more than Austrian wines, at 4.21 US dollars per liter, and Greek wines, at 4.01 euros per liter. The top 10 then closes with Argentina (3.86 US dollars per liter), Portugal (3.57) and Germany (3.43). Spain, instead, one of the largest exporters in volume, at only 2.8 US dollars per liter, behind Chile (3.21 US dollars per liter) and South Africa (2.96).
These data, like all aggregate statistics, should be considered general indications, net of many factors, such as quantities and types of products exported, the different customs conditions in the reference markets for each exporting country, and so on. Nevertheless, it must make us reflect, once again, on the fact that the very high quality of many Italian wines, now universally acknowledged, does not correspond to an economic value, which the market and consumers have accepted, instead, for productions of other Countries.