Wine and exports started with an encouraging +7.9% in 2019 of Italy in world markets

One swallow does not make spring, but if well begun is half done, and a good beginning bodes well, to remain on the subject of proverbs, Italian wine can look with confidence to 2019 in the markets of the world. Because in the first month of the year, exports of Belpaese exceeded 438 million euros (of which 287 of still wines and 151 of sparkling wines, compared to 406 of the same period in 2018 (271 of still wines and 135 of sparkling wines). With a growth of 7.9%, according to the most updated data on the subject of Istat, analyzed by WineNews. A figure that must be taken for what it is, given that it relates to just one month (and that sees steady growth of wines, + 5.9%, and sparkling wines, + 19.1% ed.), but that is anyway a positive and encouraging sign for Italian producers, who have to deal with the threat of a war of duties between the US and the EU which, according to reports and official documents, could also involve wine, until now “save” from tax skirmishes between America and Europe, an impossible Brexit, to be deciphered, free trade agreements like the Ceta with Canada and the Jefta with Japan that still have to show their real effects, and an East, China at the head, which remains a great promise, still difficult to grasp.
This is the result of overall growth in many of the most important markets for Italian wine, with the most significant increase, in absolute terms, recorded by the United Kingdom. And so, looking at the aggregate data, in value Italian wine exports grew in the USA, from 103 to 109 million euros (+5.9%), in Germany, from 72 to 74.8 million euros (+3.9%), and in the UK, with an increase of 10 million euros net, from 41 in January 2019 to 51 in 2019 (+24.4%). An increase, according to many, linked to the fact that wine merchants and distributors are making stocks to amortize a possible “no deal” on the Brexit front. But there has also been growth in Switzerland (from 26 to 29 million euros), in France (from 11.9 to 13, +9.2%) and, looking at smaller markets, for now, but of great interest to Italy in the wine sector, there have also been positive results in Russia (from 6 to 8 million euros, +33%), Japan (from 9.6 to 10.6, +10.4%), and China is also moving slightly (from 8.4 to 9.2 million euros, +9.5%). Among the most important markets, the only one with a negative balance is Canada, which had imported 26.5 million euros in January 2018, compared to 23.7 in 2019.