The consumption of wine decreased due to a significant increase in the consumer price of wine, says the International Wine and Vine Office.
Wine global consumption fell to a 27-year low last year due to rapid inflation.
According to data published by the International Wine and Vine Office (OIV) on Thursday, it is estimated that 221 million hectoliters of wine were consumed in the world last year. A hectoliter corresponds to approximately 133 bottles of wine.
Last year, according to the Reuters news agency, wine consumption was at its lowest level since 1996. Last year, consumption decreased by 2.6 percent from 2022, when consumption was already at a low level.
According to OIV, wine consumption was weighed down by a significant increase in the consumer price of wine. The consumer price was raised by the increase in the production and distribution costs of wine, behind which were geopolitical tensions, the energy crisis and disruptions in the supply chains of the global economy.
Last year, the decline in consumption was particularly large in China, where consumption plunged 25 percent from the previous year. In China, consumption grew rapidly at the beginning of the millennium, but has decreased in the last five years as a result of the corona pandemic and the increase in the price of wine.
Wine association says that the estimated production of wine fell last year to its lowest level in more than 60 years.
According to OIV’s estimate, 237 million hectoliters of wine were produced last year, which is ten percent less than the production in 2022. Back in November, OIV estimated that production would be 244 million hectoliters.
According to the OIV, the historically low production was the result of poor weather conditions such as early frosts, heavy rains and drought, as well as widespread fungal diseases in the northern and southern hemispheres.
Of the major producing countries, Italy produced the least amount of wine since 1950. Last year, the country’s wine production was 38.3 million hectoliters, or 23 percent less than the previous year. Italy lost its place as the largest producer to France.
OIV is a joint organization of fifty states. Its headquarters are in Paris. Finland left the organization in 2015.