In the first 8 months 2022, Italian wine exports exceed 5 billion euros: +12.1%

Italian wine shipments, in the first 8 months 2022, still lose speed, but do not stop, continuing on the path of particularly solid double-digit growth in its target markets, from the United States to Great Britain, with Japan becoming the positive exception to an Asia in obvious difficulty. It emerges from the WineNews analysis of the latest Istat data, the export of Italian wine production exceeds 5 billion euros - compared to 4.5 billion in the first 8 months of 2021 - marking a growth of +12.1%, higher than inflation, which meanwhile, around the world, seems to have slowed down its mad race (in Italy in October it reached +8.9%). The combined effects of the energy crisis, war in Ukraine, inflation and the aftermath of the pandemic (at least in the Far East) will, according to the vast majority of analysts, be felt in 2023, with an economic recession appearing inevitable. Wine, meanwhile, is gearing up for a historically pivotal last part of the year - more from the standpoint of consumption than international trade - which we hope will prove to be a good support for meeting future challenges.

While waiting for the end of the Ukrainian conflict, the settling of prices and the recovery of Asian economies, the good news for Italian wine comes first and foremost from neighboring countries. Shipments to France grew by 26.6%, to 178.6 million euros, while Switzerland, with +4.8%, did not deviate from the pace of growth in recent months, with sales reaching 266.5 million euros. Austria did very well, where Italian wine continues to perform at above-average levels: +18.3%, to 84.6 million euros. The reference market, within the European Union, is still, and by far, Germany, which accelerates significantly, and in the first 8 months of the year puts in a +6.5%, bringing it to 750 million euros of imports.

Slowing down, compared to the last survey, is Belgium, which still grows by 10%, to 149 million euros of imported Italian wine. It is going better in the Netherlands, where the growth in shipments is 12%, to 152.9 million euros, but it is another figure that catches the attention: that of Great Britain, which imported 502.8 million euros of Italian wine (+16.2%) in the January-August 2022 period. Of course, there will be to quantify the impact of the collapse of the Pound in September imports, but after a long period of fatigue, the overbearing return of the Uk market is a decidedly positive figure.

In Northern Europe, the leitmotif that is common to somewhat all the target markets is solidity, demonstrated in every critical phase the global economy has gone through in recent years, from the pandemic onward. Solidity that becomes immobility in the case of Denmark, at exactly the same levels as in the first 8 months 2021 (104.9 million euros), and Norway, which grows by a paltry 1.8%, at 72.7 million euros. Better does Sweden, in perfect average with the overall figure: +12.5%, and 142.8 million of Italian wine imported. Curious, and difficult to interpret, is the figure for Russia: the decline in imports from Moscow continues to slow down, and if at the 2022 mark it was -29.7% over the same period in 2021, in August the gap is just -10.1%. Wine, with the exception of fine wines, and thus labels costing more than 200 euros per bottle, is not subject to sanctions, and one can imagine that certain types of consumption, which belong to the urban middle class, have not been particularly affected by the backlash of the political and economic isolationism into which Russia has plunged.

Leaving Europe, the main market, not only for Italy but in an absolute sense, for wine imports, that of the United States, reports single-digit aggregate growth for the first time since the beginning of 2022: +9.3%, to 1.27 billion euros. Bucking the trend is Canada, which, on the other hand, does even better, importing just under 300 million euros of Italian wine in the first 8 months of 2022, up 23.9%. Finally, the painful notes from Asian markets, with the happy exception of Japan, where Italian wine, with a jump of +27.7%, came to invoice 137.5 million euros. The downward spiral continues in China,where imports drop 14.9 percent over the same period in 2021, stopping at a value of 69.3 million euros. Still in negative territory is South Korea, where, in 2021, it seemed that Italian wine could aspire to solid and steady growth: -3.9%, to 52.7 million euros. Also hurting is Hong Kong, gateway for great wines to the Chinese market, but leaving 11.3 percent on the ground, standing at 17.1 million euros.