Wine, world production and consumption at 60-year lows
The snapshot of global viticulture from the 'State of the World Vine & Wine Sector' report published by the OIV (Organisation internationale de la vigne et du vin)
2' min read
2' min read
A long race to the bottom. It is that of world wine production and consumption. A run-up that will continue in 2024 according to the "State of the World Vine & Wine Sector" report published by the OIV (Organisation internationale de la vigne et du vin).
Global production in 2024 has, in fact, stalled at 225.8 million hectolitres (-4.8% compared to 2023) the lowest level in the last sixty years. At the OIV, they justify this production slowdown by climatic factors that have certainly penalised harvests at all latitudes. But it is much more likely that if the vignerons have produced less, it is because consumption is also inexorably declining.
Indeed, world wine consumption in 2024 is estimated at 214.2 million hectolitres, a drop of 3.3% compared to 2023. If this estimate is confirmed, it would also be the lowest volume recorded since 1961 (213.6 million hectolitres). These results show another unprecedented fact, the near balance between production and consumption: 225 to 214 million hectolitres.
"The decline in global wine consumption," they explain at the OIV, "has followed a steady trajectory since 2018. A combination of several factors has favoured this trend'. A first downward push came with the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, with lockdown measures having a negative impact on the world's major wine markets. In 2021, the end of the pandemic restrictions, coupled with the reopening of the away-from-home (horeca) sector, had triggered a recovery in consumption in many countries, but then from 2022 onwards, geopolitical tensions and the subsequent energy crises started a spiral of rising production costs and inflation that again penalised sales.
"On top of this already complex scenario," they added at the OIV, "came thedownturn in consumption in China, with an average loss of 2 million hectolitres per year since 2018. A figure that has thwarted the hopes of many producers who saw the Asian giant as a large potential market but which, data in hand, seems destined to remain so.
