The volumes of wine locked up on the planet experienced further evaporation in 2023. Global consumption has, in fact, decreased by 2.6% over one year, to reach 221 million hectoliters, according to data published on Thursday April 25 , by the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV). You have to go back to 1996 to find such a low level.
The OIV estimates that the decline really began in 2018, before the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused profound changes in consumption habits due to the repeated closure of bars and restaurants. And before the outbreak, in February 2022, of the war in Ukraine, which amplified the phenomenon of inflation and tensions on logistics chains.
The epicenter of the phenomenon is to be found in China, where consumption has fallen by 2 million hectoliters per year since 2018. The deceleration was even more brutal in 2023, since volumes plunged by 24.9%, to 6.8 million hectoliters. China is now in ninth position in the ranking of the most wine-hungry states. Six years ago, she was fifth.
Adverse weather conditions
However, other countries have adopted the same trend, when the population makes trade-offs in the face of price increases and opts for temperance. Even the United States, the world’s largest consumer, is not spared, with a decline of 3%, to 33.3 million hectoliters. Even less France, number two in the ranking, which shows a decline of 2.4%, to 24.4 million hectoliters. Or its pursuer, Italy, with a drop of 2.5%, to 21.8 million hectoliters.
However, some are sailing against the tide. Like Spain, Russia, Romania, Japan and even Brazil, where wine glasses were more abundantly filled in 2023. A craze that has not succeeded in counterbalancing the general decline .
Also on the production side, the lights are red. Unfavorable weather conditions affected many vineyards. The harvests were therefore meager, even historically low, since the OIV estimates them at 237 million hectoliters (– 10% compared to 2022). A level never reached since 1961. Beyond occasional climatic hazards, the slow shrinkage of global vineyard areas (–0.5% in 2023) contributes to the lower volume of grapes harvested.
Europe, which rules the roost in the sector, since it alone accounts for 60% of world wine volumes, clearly illustrates this degraded situation. Collection is the second worst of the century, behind the dark year of 2017, with a plunge in production of 10.6%, to 144.5 million hectoliters. However, the fate of the wine triplet – Spain, Italy, France, which compete each year for places on the world podium – has not been comparable. Drought and extremely high temperatures on the one hand, and torrential rains on the other, have reduced the hopes of Spanish and Italian winegrowers to nothing. Both vineyards suffered losses of more than 20%.
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