The collapse of wine drinking in Chna is illustrated dramatically in figures just released by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV).
The OIV’s State of the World Vine and Wine sector in 2023 report notes how a decrease in China’s consumption, averaging a loss of 2 mhl annually since 2018, has played a central role in driving down global consumption figures. China’s wine consumption plummeted by 24.7% in 2023, totalling 6.8 mhl, reflecting an overall decline in internal demand.
It is against that background that the Australian wine industry hopes it can rebuild sales to China!
As we wrote in Glug last month Rebuilding wine sales in China won’t be easy.
Other features in the OIV report are:
Vineyard Surface Area: The world’s vineyard surface area continued its decline, shrinking by 0.5% from 2022 to 7.2 million hectares. This trend, observed for the third consecutive year, was driven by the removal of vineyards in major vinegrowing regions (including all types of grapes) across both hemispheres.
Wine production: Extreme climatic conditions and widespread fungal diseases severely impacted many vineyards worldwide, culminating in a historically low global wine production of 237 million hectolitres. This marked a 10% drop from 2022 and represented the lowest output since 1961.
Wine Consumption: Global wine consumption in 2023 is estimated at 221 million hectolitres, indicating a decrease of 2.6% compared to 2022’s already low figures. The spike in production and distribution costs, driven by inflationary pressures, led to higher wine prices for consumers, who were already dealing with diminished purchasing power. Despite these challenges, a few major
markets demonstrated resilience.
International trade in wine: The international trade in wine in 2023 was also notably affected by the rise in prices. Although the total volume of wine exported dropped to 99 million hectolitres, this was offset by a high export value, which reached 36 billion euros. The average price per litre of export wine hit a record high of 3.62 euros per litre
