Germany Emerges as a Leader in Terms of Wine Imports

IndexBox has just published a new report "World: Wine - Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2025". Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

Global Wine Market Reached 31B Litres, Accelerating Slightly Over the Last Four Years 

In 2016, global wine market reached $93.6B in wholesale prices. This figure reflects total revenue of producers and importers (excluding logistics costs, retail marketing costs, and retailers’ margins, which will be included in the final consumer price). In physical terms, the market achieved 31.0B litres in 2016. There was an upward trend from 2007 to 2016 with an acceleration over the last four years. 

The countries with the highest consumption were the U.S. (15%, based on tonnes), Spain (11%), Italy (11%), France (11%), China (8%), Germany (6%), the U.K. (4%) and Argentina (4%).

The highest annual growth rates of wine consumption from 2007 to 2016 were recorded in Spain, with +5.6%, the U.S. and China with +5.1% growth, Italy, with +4.4% growth. Thus, Spain, the U.S. (+3 percentage points, each), China and Italy (+2 percentage points, each) strengthened their shares in terms of the global consumption from 2007 to 2016. By contrast, shares of France (-4 percentage points), Germany and the U.K.   (-2 percentage points, each) declined over the period under review.

Amongst the leading consuming countries high levels of per capita consumption levels were recorded in Spain (77 litre/year in 2016), Italy (59 litre/year), France (44 litre/year), which were significantly higher than the world average of 4 litre/year. Spain and Italy had a growing per capita consumption, while France slightly decreased its level. 

Wine Market Is Expected to Reach 36B Litres in 2025

Europe and the U.S. are the major wine consuming regions; however, market saturation and imperceptible population growth in these countries is curtailing consumption increase. Consumption in both the U.S. and Europe is set to remain consistently high in the medium term, and both regions will retain their tangible position on the global market. 

At the same time, globalization is exerting an impact on the spread of wine: the product is becoming increasingly popular in various countries which were not previously renowned for an established, developed culture of wine consumption. 

The emergence of a middle class, a sizeable, rapidly increasing population, and rising household incomes may be classed as the driving factors accounting for wine consumption in the developing-economy markets, primarily in South-East Asia. The reasons listed above, along with ongoing urbanization and an increasingly 'Western' lifestyle, are contributing to the wine consumption culture in Asian countries. Despite the current low figures in terms of per capita consumption and certain restrictive factors, the Asian countries are set to become the impetus for increased global wine consumption. 

As a result of the factors highlighted above, the global wine market is projected to expand at an accelerated rate of up to, on average, +1.8% a year; this is expected to result in increased consumption of up to 36B liters by the end of 2025. 

Production of Wine Accelerated Over the Last Years

Production of wine reached 31.4M litres in 2016, with an upward trend over the last few years. Production volume was relatively stable from 2007 to 2012, with a notable growth in the following years. In 2016, global wine production value increased by 8% to $92.4B in 2016, fluctuating somewhat notably over the last ten years against changes in prices.

Large EU Countries and the U.S. Were the Main Wine Producers Across the Globe

Spain (18%, based on tonnes), Italy (17%), France (13%) and the U.S. (13%) were the key world wine producing countries in 2016. The other major producers were China (6%), Argentina (5%), and Chile (4%). Chile (+5.6%), Spain (+5.6%) and the U.S. (+4.9%) increased their production, largely attributed to growing demand for wine.

The International Wine Trade Is Posting Increased Intensity

Wine is a widely traded commodity, with the share of exports in total global output being recorded at approx. 34% in 2016. The high trade intensity is determined mainly by the substantial distances between the main wine producing countries and those countries which are currently experiencing significantly increased wine consumption, but which are not traditionally recognised as wine producers.

Spain Is Rapidly Stepping Up Exports of Wine, Overtaking Other Main Exporters in Terms of the Export Figures 

In 2016, the volume of global exports totaled 10.7B litres. In 2007-2015 the world wine export remained relatively stable with a slight upward trend. However, in 2016 exports decreased by 3% compared to the previous year. 

Spain (21%), Italy (18%), France (14%) and Australia (10%) were the main global suppliers of wine, with a combined share of 63% of global exports. From 2007 to 2016, Spain (+5.7% per year) was the fastest growing supplier amongst the major exporters. Spain strengthened its share in the global export structure by +7 percentage points, while Australia (-4 percentage points), Italy and France (-2 percentage points each), saw their shares reduced from 2007 to 2016.

Germany Emerged as a Leader in Terms of Wine Imports

The volume of global imports totaled 10.6B litres in 2016. The imports dynamic was generally in line with exports: these trade flows globally complement each other. 

In 2016, Germany (14%), the U.K. (14%) and the U.S. (11%) were the leading destinations for wine imports, together making up 39% of global imports in physical terms. Amongst the major importing countries France (+4.2% per year) and the U.S. (+3.1% per year) posted the highest annual growth rates from 2007 to 2016. From 2007 to 2010, in volume terms, the UK was the largest wine importer in the world, however, in 2011, German wine imports exceeded the UK imports by volume. As a result, the volume of German wine imports was steadily leading in 2011-2016.

Do you want to know more about global wine market? Get the latest trends and insight from our report. It includes a wide range of statistics on

• wine market share
• wine prices
• wine industry
• wine sales
• wine import
• wine export
• wine market forecast
• wine price forecast
• key wine producers

Source: World: Wine - Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2025