Italian sparkling wines, exports in the first 8 months 2024 are 1.47 billion euros: 28% of the total

If Italian wine export figures continue to run accompanied by a positive sign (5.17 billion euros in value, +4.1% in the first 8 months of 2024 over 2023), albeit in a complicated period and with due caution for a year-end all to be seen, the solidity of the sector is also explained by the specific weight coming from a “top player” in excellent health, the sparkling wine. The numbers of Italian sparkling wines are, in fact, growing and probably reflect a historical period in which factors such as changes in consumption (and climate), and the increasingly strong demand for “lighter” and “easier to drink” products, by young people in primis, without forgetting the influence of mixology with sparkling wines as the ideal “partner” for many cocktails, are having an impact. And as we enter the final “sprint” of 2024, the one most congenial to the sale of sparkling wines, sparkling wines made in Italy are increasingly consumed around the world with a performance that also gives promising signs for the future, especially in some markets. From January to August 2024, according to Istat data analyzed by WineNews, Italian sparkling wines are worth 1.47 billion euros in world exports, up 8.42% over the same period in 2023, and 28.3% of total Italian wine exports. An exploit that encompasses almost all of the Italian main wine partners, with rare exceptions such as Switzerland, Japan and South Korea. Volumes also rose to 343.4 million liters (+12%). A “bang” generated by the Prosecco phenomenon, which alone is worth 1.1 billion euros, a dominant slice of a total to which, of course, also appellations of excellence contribute, but with smaller volumes, such as Franciacorta, Asti, Alta Langa, Trentodoc, and others.
Comparing, in the individual countries, the evolution in the January-August period in the years 2023 and 2024, also for sparkling wines the United States is confirmed as the main channel for Italy, with 348.1 million euros (+11.3%), and “bubbles” represent, in fact, 26.8% of total wine exports to the States (1.25 billion euros). Germany, the first European market for Italian wine, marks 94.8 million euros (+7.7%) and sparkling wines, in the period under consideration, are 12.35% of the total wine exported (765 million euros). But it is Great Britain that confirms itself as a great lover of Italian sparkling wines, and only the U.S. does better: 245 million euros (+1.9%) is the result in the first 8 months of 2024 (in a general declining figure), with sparkling wines reaching 47.1% of total exports at 519.9 million euros.
Canada comes close to double digits, jumping to 37.5 million euros (+9.6%), and sparkling wines, out of a total of 254.3 million euros referred to the value of Italian wine exports, have a relevance of 14.76%. France is also doing well, at 91.3 million (+6.4%), with the Champagne country coming in at 45.4% of total Italian wine imports (201.1 million euros). Extraordinary is the jump of Russia, which continues to grow at a high speed: imports for 72.4 million euros from January to August 2024 (+67.7%), and if the total export of Italian wine is 153.9 million euros, sparkling wines cover 47%.
Belgium’s feeling with Italian bubbles is also excellent, with imports of 59.4 million euros (+14.9%), 42.4% of the total wine shipped from Italy (140.3 million euros), a figure, the latter, that had recorded a slight decline, demonstrating the weight of sparkling wines in exports to this country. Switzerland with 47.2 million euros (-6.1%) is down, and bubbles have a worse figure than the total (252.5 million euros, -3.1%) in the first 8 months of 2024, accounting for 18.7% of the total. On the rise, but still with potential to be explored, is the figure coming from the Netherlands: here Italian bubbles are at €17.5 million (+13%), but out of a total of €159.2 million they account for only 11%. Austria did very well, at 41.7 million euros (+23.2%), with Italian sparkling wines accounting for close to 40% of total wine exports in value for 104.5 million euros. Orders also went up from Sweden (+8.9%), signifying 35.6 million euros and more than 27% of Italian wine exports, which exceeded 131 million euros. More than that of Denmark (11.3%, 97.2 million euros is instead the total export of Italian wine to the Scandinavian country), where sparkling in the first 8 months 2024 signed an increase of +15.8% to 10.9 million euros.
Chapter East. China, at least in sparkling wines, shows feeble growth in the first two-thirds of the year: we are at 7.4 million euros (+4.1%) for sparkling wines and, in an Italian wine export standing at 57.1 million euros, bubbles have a 13% share. Declining is Japan (-5.5%), at €24.9 million, with sparkling wines worth 19.3% of total Italian wine exports to the Asian country (€129.4 million). South Korea also goes down, to 3.6 million euros (-10.1%), with Italian sparkling wines accounting for just over a tenth of an export that came in at 32.9 million euros.
Growth rates that in almost all countries do better than still wines, leading markets that continue to grow: the incidence of Italian sparkling wines in the global market is a phenomenon that therefore seems destined to increase in the years to come.