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Italy The Only Top Wine Producer To See Growth In 2021

By Branislav Pekic
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Italy The Only Top Wine Producer To See Growth In 2021

Of the top three wine producing nations in the world, Italy was the only one to see growth in 2021, according to a Mediobanca study.

Italy produced 50.2 million hl of wine in 2021, up 2% on the previous year, ahead of France with 37.6 million hl (-19% due to adverse weather conditions) and Spain with 35.3 million hl (-14%).

The USA was the top wine consuming nation during the period, with consumption of 33.1 million hl (+1%), edging out France with 25.2 million hl (+9%) and Italy with 24.2 million hl (no change on 2020).

Spain is the world’s leading wine exporter in terms of volume, exporting 23 million hl (+14%), followed by Italy with 22.2 million (+7.3%) and France with 14.6 million (+8%).

However, France leads in terms of export value, with €11.1 billion (+27%) worth of exports, followed by Italy with €7.1 billion (+13%) and Spain with €2.9 billion (+10%).

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France mainly exports wine of higher quality and with a higher price (€7.38/litre), followed by Italy with €3.20/litre and Spain with €1.23/litre (bulk wine accounts for 56% of exports).

Read More: French Wine And Spirits Exporters Report Record 2021 Sales

Italian Wine By Numbers

In Italy, sales of sparkling wines (+21%) grew above those of still wines (+12.4%), Mediobanca's study found. Organic wine sales increased 11% to reach a 3.3% market share; while vegan wine sales rose 24.8% to account for 2.2% of the overall market.

EU countries accounted for 41.2% of Italian wine exports, followed by North America (34.1%), while Central and South America saw 22.8% growth.

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Last year, wine sales in the large-scale distribution channel grew 13.5% (the channel accounts for 35.6% of the market), as well as the recovery of HoReCa (+28.1%) whose share rose from 15.6% to 15.9%.

All the other sales channels registered growth – direct sales (+5.4%), wine shops and bars (+22.9%) and wholesalers-intermediaries (+19.8%).

Forecast For 2022

Despite the uncertainties in 2022, leading Italian wine producers expect a 4.8% increase in sales compared to 2021, with exports set to grow by 5.6%.

Sales are likely to be driven by the continued success of sparkling wines (+5.7% overall revenues, +7.5% exports) while still wines are expected to grow by 4.6% (+5.3% exports).

© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.

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