IN SPITE OF THE CRISIS, THE FUTURE IS WINE. THE WORLDWIDE CONSUMPTION OF WINE WILL GROW 5.31% BETWEEN 2012-2016, FOR 25.85 BILLION LITERS OF WINE DRUNK, ACCORDING TO VINEXPO AND ISWR

The crisis, which in the last five years has been a major obstacle to worldwide economic growth, has not however stopped and will not stop the upward trend in worldwide wine consumption. In 2012-2016 it will grow 5.31%, for 25.85 billion liters of wine drunk, with a surge in sparkling wines (+8.52%, for a total of 2.11 billion liters in 2012).
This is the reassuring figure revealed in the Vinexpo and ISWR - International Wine & Spirits Research (www.iwsr.co.uk) study on the current economic situation in the wine sector and its prospects for 2016. The study highlights a total growth value in the sector of 8.66% (in 2016, globally wine will be worth 182.89 billion U.S. dollars), and a shift in preferences towards red wines, which account for 55.9% of total consumption (followed by whites at 34.78% and rose’ at 9.32%).
One of the reasons to be optimistic, especially looking at the future from the point of view of a country renowned for the quality of its production, is a boom in sales of high-end wines (over ten dollars a bottle), which will grow 30%, while mid-range (5-10 dollars per bottle) will increase their share by 10%, and low-end (under $ 5) only 2.77%, weighing on total sales between 2007 and 2016 that will go from 75.51% to 67.37%.
In the face of such a growth in consumption, production will remain stable at 27 billion liters per year, with a slight increase starting in 2016. The U.S.A. remains the top consumer country and will grow another 12.16%, to 3.36213 billion liters, followed by Germany (now fourth), France and Italy, whose decrease in consumption appears to be unstoppable, and China that will mark the best performance (+39.7%, second Russia, at +17.8%).
The future of the major exporting countries will pass through China and Russia, but also Brazil and India (where there is still a lot of work to do). Italy saw the value of its exports increase 52.7% between 2007 and 2011 but it will be the same for France, Spain, Chile, the U.S. and Argentina. The only unknown is Australia, which is in a decline but ready to pick itself up and go.