In 2022 Italy stepped down from being the number one producer globally, and continued to rank second (after France) even in 2023. But despite bad news all over the wine world, Italy still managed to perform better than other producers. Let's see it in details.
Wine production
Overall, European Union countries' production in 2023 is estimated at 144.5 mhl, a sharp decrease of 10.6% compared to 2022. France went on confirming itself as the world’s leading wine producer in 2023, with an estimated volume of 48 mhl (20% of the global total), +4.4% than in 2022.
Italy, the second-largest wine-producing nation globally, faced historically low production levels in 2023, with a notable 23.2% decrease, totalling 38.3 mhl – the smallest production since 1950. Poor climate conditions contributed to this downfall, from heavy rainfall to floods and hail damage. Luckily, Italy kept on a positive trend as to vineyard surface, reaching 720 kha (+0.2%), accounting for the world's 10% surface while the EU vineyard landscape witnessed an overall decrease of -0.8% in 2023, totalling 3.3 mha.
The spike in production and distribution costs, driven by inflationary pressures, led to higher wine prices for consumers. This aspect showed itself on multiple levels: the international trade in wine in 2023 was affected by the rise in prices, with the total volume of exported wine dropped to 99 million hectolitres, but with 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.
World wine consumption, too, decreased by 2.6% in 2023 (at 221 mhl), the lowest volume recorded since 1996. Price increases of course played a major role in this, combined with global inflation which affected negatively consumers' purchasing power. The continuing decrease in China’s consumption, too, averaging a loss of 2 mhl annually since 2018, has played a central role in driving down global consumption figures.
But Italy managed to keep itself at the top of the major wine exporters' global ranking, though. In 2023, Italy, Spain, and France together exported 54.9 mhl of wine, constituting 56% of global wine exports by volume. Italy saw only a slight decrease to 21.4 mhl (-1.0%), while both Spain and France experienced a more significant decline (-6.6% and -5.8% respectively). Regarding export value, France remained the highest-value exporter in 2023 at 11.9 bn EUR (-2.8%), followed by Italy at 7.7 bn EUR (-0.8%), and Spain at 2.9 bn EUR (-3.2%). Combined, these three EU countries accounted for 63% of the total global export value.
The real surprise was the incredibly good performance of sparkling wines, especially Prosecco: in fact, sparkling wine export value increased only in Italy, recording a +3% compared to 2022. And though the volume of exported bottled wine significantly dropped (-4% in Italy), bulk wine too witnessed an increase in volume only for Italy (+12%/2022), which however recorded a value in line with 2022.
The largest importer by volume in 2023 is Germany, with 13.6 mhl (-0.3%/2022), followed by the UK with decreased imports in both volume and value, and by the USA shifting from the first place in 2022 to third place in 2023 (-14.6%).