THE US IS THE MOST ATTRACTIVE WINE TRADE MARKET IN THE WORLD. JAPAN IS IN THIRD PLACE, BRITAIN IS BACK IN THE TOP 5 AND CHINA FELL TO NUMBER 6, REVEALED THE "THE WINE INTELLIGENCE COMPASS REPORT 2015 -16"

The United States is still the most attractive market in the world for both for wine business and investments, while Japan rises to number three, Great Britain is back in the top 5 and China has gone down to number six, revealed "The Wine Compass Intelligence Report 2015-16". The report ranked the different markets around the world, determining the degree of attractiveness based on a combination of economic criteria related to wine trade, including ease of doing business and commercial chain coherence (www.wineintelligence.com).
Despite the twisted and fragmented distribution structure, the US is still the winning bet, thanks to a growing economy and a change in consumer habits that are shifting more and more towards wine.
Germany is the second largest market, with particularly stable wine consumption and an excellent economic performance overall. In the top 5, Japan is at number 3, due to a more sustained trend in wine consumption growth and the United Kingdom at number 4, which has benefited from the economic recovery of the last two years.
China, however, slipped to position 6, because the import wine market has significantly cooled down over the past two years, due to the Beijing government’s anti-corruption measures, which have undermined fine wines, starting with large bottles of Bordeaux, but also a clear slowdown in economic growth in the country. Nevertheless, China remains a strong bet in the long term, and is expected to return in the top 5, especially if the middle class begins to consider wine a product of daily consumption.
“Producer countries”, says Luis Osorio, Senior Research Analyst at Wine Intelligence and author of the report, “are forced to export more than ever before, because of higher demand on emerging markets and declining demand on domestic markets.
This report has been designed specifically to help exporters to better allocate their marketing resources on markets (often difficult to evaluate quickly and accurately) with best sales prospects, and where there are still opportunities for growth”.