The USA is still the most attractive market in the world for wine, ahead of Canada and France

The value of the global wine market in 2018 grew, at current prices +1.2% on the 50 main markets, reaching 204 billion US dollars, while total volumes dropped 1.7%, confirming the turning point is quality consumption. Even though many trade treaties have been signed recently, the global trade situation is uncertain and precarious because of the tariff war the US president Donald Trump has engaged with China and the EU, as well as the uncertainty that continues to reign in Great Britain regarding the perspective of Brexit. Several State Monopolies around the world have been experiencing a period of great reforms, aimed at liberalizing wine sales and guaranteeing the greatest freedom and choice possible to the consumer. The prospect of Britain’s disorderly exit from the European Union could result in a poor performance of the British economy in the near future, and companies are already investing time, energy and resources trying to plan a short-term future, which at the moment is almost entirely unthinkable. This is, then, the picture in which the “Global Compass 2019” has been inserted. The Global compass is the Wine Intelligence study that, every year, ranks the 50 most attractive markets for world wine trade, according to economic parameters (adult population, GDP per capita, income per capita, unemployment percentage, corruption index, level of globalization) and data on the wine market (volumes and trends on the wine market, volumes and trends of imported wine, per capita consumption, trends and potentials, market value of wine, trend and unit price, profitability of the wine market, accessibility of the wine market) for each individual country.
Hence, the United States is still at the top of the list of the most attractive markets, despite the slowdown in consumption of still wines, both volume wise and value wise. Behind the US, there is Canada, France, Germany and, surprisingly, Holland, up from the ninth position in 2018. China is in position number 6, then Great Britain, Denmark, Switzerland and South Korea. Italy, instead, lost 7 positions, slipping down to position number 17. The most notable drop, however, after years of consistent growth, is, instead, Japan, which lost nine positions and has dropped down to number 20. China is going down as well, as we have seen, from number 4 to 6, while secondary Asian markets such as Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore show significant signs of growth, linked to positive economic performances and excellent signs of growth in terms of wine consumption over the long term. Even the countries of Eastern Europe such as Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovenia have registered great improvements, and also in these cases driven by economic performance and cultural growth that brings them closer to the Old World block, in terms of wine consumption. Russia has collapsed, losing ten positions, and it is paying the price, both in the short and the long term, of the EU embargo. Overall, there is certain stability in terms of attractiveness on the world wine market, with a slight increase in the average price per bottle, regardless of the significant drops in Colombia, Russia, South America, Argentina and Angola. Of the 50 countries examined, 32 show growing numbers, while 18 are falling, with two indicators weighing positively and negatively. On the one hand, economic growth while on the other a drop in still wine consumption.
Additionally, there is yet another way to categorize the different markets, namely dividing them into five different groups, which are: mature (markets where consumption has reached its potential, confirming itself stable or declining in volumes), stable (historically growing markets), growth (markets where wine is a mainstream product that is experiencing strong growth momentum), emerging (markets in which wine shows signs of growth while relying on a small consumer base) and new emerging (markets where wine is still a relatively new and little known product, which shows potential). France, Germany, Holland (new entry together with Australia and Japan), Great Britain, Denmark and Switzerland are part of the first category. Italy, a new entry like Portugal and South Africa are in the second one. USA, Canada and South Korea, in addition to the new entry Brazil are in the third group. China, Taiwan and Russia are part of the fourth, and India, Indonesia and the Philippines are in the fifth category.