A Global View: Who Makes and Who Drinks Wine?

Picture: Global Wine Producers

The Managing Director of the International Vine and Wine Office (OIV) issued his annual report on the state of the vitiviniculture world market. The OIV, an intergovernmental organization, was made up of 8 producer countries at the time of its creation, but has, since India joined, 45 members.

This is a very interesting document, providing lots of data on: (1) the surface area of world vineyards; (2) global grape production, (3) global wine production, (4) global wine consumption and (5) international trade in the wine market.

I am using these numbers (from the year 2010) to shed some light on the question: Who produces all the wine and who consumes it?

For more information on the size and structure of the German wine industry, see here. For my views on trends in the global wine market: old world, new world, emerging wine countries, see here.

Who Produces the Wine?

Global wine production stood at 264 million hectoliters in 2010, down by 7 million hectoliters compared with the previous year.

Three Old World countries account for about half of global wine production: With 49 million hectoliters, Italy is the largest producer, followed by France with 45 million hectoliters. The third country in the leading trio is Spain with 36 million hectoliters.

The New World country United States is ranked next in the list of top wine-producing countries, producing around 20 million hectoliters of wine. Zinfandel is the most popular grape, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon.

Argentina produces around 16 million hectoliters of wine each year. Only about 10 per cent of the wine produced is exported.

Then comes emerging wine country China. Around 80 per cent of the 12 million hectoliters of wine produced in China is red. Only a small amount of wine from China is exported currently but the wine industry is starting to take note of Chinese wines. Most of the grapes used are indigenous to China but Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot have a small presence in Chinese vineyards.

The New World countries of South Africa, Australia and Chile follow China. All three produce between 8 and 10 million hectoliters of wine each year. Australia is the fourth largest exporter of wine, after Italy, France and Spain. Chile is a predominantly red wine producer with around three quarters of the country’s vineyards planted with red grapes.

The Old World wine countries Germany and Portugal, each with about 8 million hectoliters, complete the list of the top 12 wine producers in the world.

The TOP 12 Wine Producers (in Mio. hl)

1. Italy 48,6
2. France 45,3
3. Spain 36,1
4. USA 19,6
5. Argentina 16,3
6. China 13,0
7. Australia 11,2
8. South Africa 9,2
9. Chile 8,8
10 Russia 8,2
11.Germany 7,2
12 Portugal 6,8

Who Consumes the Wine?

France, the US, Italy and Germany are the largest wine consumers in the world, each exceeding 20 million hectoliters. All these countries also export a lot of their wines.

Emerging wine country China, the next country on the list, is different. The majority of wine produced is consumed domestically, although their exports are growing.

Then follows the UK, another outlier on the list: The UK is a major consumer but produces almost nothing itself. All is imported.

Spain, Argentina and Russia follow in the 10 hectoliters range. Given its high production level and low consumption level, Spain is a major exporter. Argentina, though very present in the global wine market is the opposite picture: Almost 90% of its production is consumed domestically.

At the end are Australia, Portugal and Canada in the 5 hectoliters range.

The TOP 12 Wine Consumers (in Mio. hl)

1. France 29,4
2. USA 27,1
3. Italy 24.5
4. Germany 20,2.
5. China 14,3
6. UK 13,2
7. Spain 10,9
8. Argentina 10,0
9. Russia 9,7
10. Australia 5,3
11. Portugal 4,4
12. Canada 4,4

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