Record-breaking European agri-food export in 2025 with wine at 16.4 billion euros (-6% on 2024)

If Italian agri-food exports hit a record in 2025, with a total value of almost 73 billion euros thanks to a 5% increase over the previous year, the sector can also celebrate its “best” 12 months at the European level, even though not all products in the “basket” - such as wine and olive oil - experienced a positive year. According to the latest “Monitoring EU Agri-Food Trade”, the European Commission report mentioned by WineNews, in 2025 EU agri-food exports reached a new record of 238.4 billion euros, +1% compared to the previous 2024 (+2.8 billion euros). However, wine exports (including wine-based products) recorded the second-largest drop in value (-1 billion euros, or -6%) among the top 15 exported products, second only to cereals, reaching 16.4 billion euros in 2025. Olive oil nonetheless posted the steepest decline in 2025, -39%, with total exports slightly above 6 billion euros due to a -28% fall in prices from the peak reached in 2024.
Focusing again on wine, compared with the previous year, 1 billion euros in value were lost, mainly due to a 721 million euros reduction in exports to the United States (-14%), which remained the top destination with a 12% share. The U.S. was not the only market in decline: exports also fell to the United Kingdom (-148 million euros, -4%), China (-113 million euros, -21%) and Russia (-97 million euros, -15%). Conversely, they increased toward Sub-Saharan Africa (+62 million euros, +14%) and Oceania (+40 million euros, +11%). Wine accounts for 7% of the European Union agri-food exports and is the third-largest product by value behind milling products - cereal-based preparations (including pasta and baked goods, ed) - and dairy products. Spirits and liqueurs were also down, at 8.3 billion euros (-6% compared 2024, or 510 million euros less).
The United Kingdom, with 55.6 billion euros, tops the list of the 15 countries where EU exports have the greatest impact: it accounts for 23% of the total and increased by 3% over 2024 (almost +1.6 billion euros). Completing the top three, there are the United States at 28.6 billion euros (-6%), representing 12%, and Switzerland at 13.2 billion euros (+7%). In 2025, EU agri-food exports to the United States decreased by 1.8 billion euros, while those to China, the EU fourth-largest trading partner, fell by 5% to a total of 12.6 billion euros. The EU has effectively strengthened its position as the world leading agri-food exporter, being the only one among the top 5 global exporters to have increased the value of its exports. Higher prices boosted the value of exports of cocoa products, coffee, chocolate, and dairy products. The value of exported olive oil fell due to lower prices, while wine and cereal volumes declined. Overall, the stronger growth in import values led to a decrease in the EU agri-food trade balance to 49.9 billion euros, down by 13.3 billion euros compared with 2024, although the EU trade surplus remains four times higher than in 2002. In 2025, agri-food trade accounted for 9% of the area total exports and 7.5% of total imports.