In the first 7 months 2023, Italian wine shipments worldwide mark -1.2%

The health of Italian wine exports in the world is not improving, which, in the first 7 months of 2023, registered a -1.2% decline over the same period in 2022, standing at €4.45 billion, according to WineNews analysis of the latest Istat data. At the same time, volumes of Italian wine shipments also fell: -1.5%, to 12.3 million hectoliters. A somewhat expected signal, which only confirms the difficulties experienced by the sector, both on international markets and on the domestic front, in Italy as in France and Spain. Countries that, on the one hand, are suffering the effects of the run-up in energy and raw material costs, and on the outlet markets have to deal, in many cases, with the contraction of purchasing power and the slowdown in growth. Especially in Northern Europe, where shipments of Italian wines mark sharply negative results, while Germany and Uk continue in their reassuringly positive trend. In the U.S. and Canada, after the rush to replenish stocks in 2022, the impression is that it will take a few more months to return to growth, and Asia still shows no sign of recovery, becoming increasingly marginal on the Italian wine map, with the significant exception of Hong Kong.

Proceeding, as usual, from the closest markets, France puts in the most solid performance: +20.7%, to 195.5 million euros of Italian wine imported in the first seven months of 2023. The Netherlands’ figure is also positive, just over +1%, to 138.3 million euros in sales. Still solid is Germany, the second largest market for Italian wine and the first in Europe, which marks a growth of +1.6%, to 682.6 million euros. Also doing well is the United Kingdom, which confirms itself as the third market for Italian wine exports, with growth in the period of +3%, to 454 million euros. The last European market to grow is Austria, with +5.2%, and 79.7 million euros of Italian wine imported.

The sore points come first of all from neighboring and very rich Switzerland, where shipments drop by -4.2%, stopping at 235 million euros. Also in the negative is the figure for Belgium, where Italian wine loses 2% of sales compared to the first seven months of 2022, standing at 129.7 million euros. Bad, as anticipated, are the Scandinavian countries: Denmark loses 12.3%, to 84.8 million euros; Norway loses 9%, to 61.2 million euros; and Sweden, which limits the damage compared to its neighbors, marks -5.2%, to 120 million euros. Continuing, despite the war in Ukraine, which began more than 600 days ago, is the positive trend of Italian wine shipments to Russia, where in the first 7 months of 2023 it invoiced 80.7 million euros (+45%).

The most worrying data comes, however, from overseas, from those that are stably, and still are, the first and fourth world markets for Italian wine, which see a worsening of the trend recorded a month ago. The United States marks a contraction of 8.1%, for a turnover of 1.04 billion euros, Canada even -17.4%, to 206 million euros. Finally, the markets of Asia, which show no signs of recovery even from Japan, where shipments of Italian wine mark -6.1%, to 111 million euros. There is a slowdown in China, which still loses -8.3% over the first seven months of 2022, stopping at 58.6 million euros, while in South Korea the propulsive push that began before the pandemic has definitely run out, with imports down 34.8%, to 31.8 million euros. The only “light” comes from Hong Kong, and it is not to be underestimated: for years a privileged gateway for fine wines to the large Chinese market, it suffered the consequences of the political clash with Beijing for a long time, ending up in the corner, but, in recent months, it seems to be back on track: between January and July 2023, it imported 16.6 million euros of Italian wine, with a growth of +4.6%.