Italian wine consumption in the US fell in May 2025: -10.6% compared to a year ago

Until recently, reading data on Italian wine exports to the United States was synonymous with “record” or, at least, provided an immediate response of growth, stability, and bright prospects for the future. Now, however, the tide seems to have turned.With the rush to stock up on wine due to fears of tariffs now over, and with those tariffs having arrived and made their presence felt in trade, and with consumption continuing to decline, especially among the younger generations, the Italian wine industry now finds itself having to deal with difficulties arising from what was and still is its main trading partner.The Unione Italiana Vini (UIV) Observatory, based on Sipsource data relating to wine shipments from distributors’ warehouses for ready-to-consume goods, states that “total consumption of Italian wine in the United States in May fell by 10.6% compared to the same period last year. This is one of the sharpest declines in a three-year period of continuous losses, bringing consumption in the first five months of the year down to -6.3%, both in volume and value. The figure is slightly lower than the overall average demand for wine in the US, which fell by 14.4% in May and 9% in the first five months of the year”. Concerns are growing, along with the need to find new solutions. “There is a worrying decline in wine consumption in the US, and Italian labels are not exempt”, explained Uiv president Lamberto Frescobaldi, “and the imposition of tariffs by America risks dealing a fatal blow to an already stagnant market, which is fundamental for Italian products and for the historic relations between Italy and the United States. We need to re-examine the current structure of Italian wine, and this discussion will form the basis of the next UIV Assembly on July 3 in Rome”.