World wine market lost 802 million euros in a year, and volumes collapsed

A decline that seems to know no stopping and with a 2024, to be faced, that does not promise, at the moment, to dream big. The international wine trade is struggling, both in value, with the exception of France, however, which has raised prices considerably, and in volume, with a complicated 2023, and a progression into the negative that gives pause for thought. Countries like France and Italy all things considered, it must be said, are holding their own, and there are also some interesting data that bode well, such as, for example, the growth of the Belpaese sparkling wine industry. But the glories of the golden years of the wine market, on a general level, are long gone.
As confirmed by the Oemv - Observatorio Español del Mercado del Vino, world wine trade fell by 2.1% in value terms year-on-year through September 2023, touching 36.5 billion euros; down also exports (-7.2%), which goes below the “psychological threshold” of 10 billion liters (9.9 billion), which has not happened since 2014.
A performance that found its lowest point in September, despite the increase in prices (+5.4%, +18 cents the world average) with an average of 3.67 euros per liter (only bulk fell) that allowed it to stay afloat in terms of value. From February 2021 to March 2023, the data explain, there was always growth in value terms, which stopped from April 2023 and continued for six consecutive months, with particularly pronounced losses in August (-12.5%) and, especially, September (-17%). In volume terms, over the past 12 months, only March has been positive (+2.5%), with declines close to 15% in August and September. All types of wine, in fact, declined in volume, starting with bottled wine, which continues to be the most exported and covers 52% of volume and 67% of total value, although sparkling wines and bag-in-box increased their sales. Compared to the same period in the previous year, and, thus, September 2022, world wine trade lost 768 million liters and 802 million euros, with the average price increasing by 18 cents.
Of the world’s top 11 wine exporters (France, Italy, Spain, Chile, New Zealand, the United States, Australia, Portugal, Germany, Argentina, and South Africa), accounting for more than 85% of world trade, only New Zealand (+9.7%, the country is now the fifth largest exporter) and, to a lesser extent, Portugal (0.4%), grew in volume year-on-year through September 2023, and they, along with Germany and France, also increased their sales among the “top” countries. Italy fell less than Spain in volume, consolidating its world leadership in quantity, followed at a distance by France, which lost share. But the French “cousins”, when it comes to value, are unrivaled, thanks to a much higher average price than the others. Of note, however, is the collapse of exports from Chile, Argentina and the United States, with negative data also from South Africa and Australia.
In value terms, France is the top exporter with 12.1 billion euros (+0.7%), far behind Italy at 7.7 billion (-0.5%) and Spain, even further behind at 2.9 billion (-3.1%); Chile in fourth place (1.4 billion, -22%), New Zealand in fifth (1.3 billion, +7.5%), Australia in sixth (1.2 billion, -14.5%), the U.S. in seventh (1.1 billion, -18.8%), Germany in eighth (1.06 billion, +2.3%), Portugal in ninth (945 million, +1.5%), Argentina in tenth (623 million, -18.9%), and South Africa in eleventh (570 million, -16.7%). In terms of volumes, Italy still leads with 2.1 billion total liters, between bottled and bulk, (-1.3%) ahead of Spain (2 billion liters -4.8%), France (1.3 billion liters, -8.4) with notable slumps for Chile (-24.6%), South Africa (-28.1%), the US (-26.9%) and Argentina (-29.4%).
For sparkling wines, Italy, France and Spain take 82% of the world trade, but the Belpaese is the absolute leader in terms of volume (500 million, -3.1%), more than twice as much as France (220 million, -9%), which remains, however, the reference if we look at invoicing (4.6 million euros, +0.6%), but with Italy marking the best performance (+4.7%, 2.1 billion euros). Turning to still bottled, Italy is the world’s leading exporter in volume (1.1 billion liters, -4.7%), ahead of France (930 million, -8.6%), which, however, is once again superior in terms of turnover (€7.2 billion, +1%), higher than Italy’s €5.0 billion (-2.8%). In the Belpaese, 58.6 million liters were lost (and 146.5 million euros in terms of sales), in France 87.7 million liters, but here, after the United States, there were the biggest price increases (+10.5%), which reached 7.78 euros per liter.