Italian wine exports could be set for another record year, following a 13% growth in value during January 2018 compared to the same period of last year.
This emerges from an analysis by Italian farmers association Coldiretti based on the latest Istat data on foreign trade in January. Once again, sparkling wines were a key growth driver (+26%).
Despite Trump's protectionist trade measures, the USA is still the biggest export market, with an 18% growth in Italian wine consumption in January 2018, followed by Germany (+12%) and the UK.
Excellent results were also recorded in France (+14%), where purchases of Italian wine practically doubled over the past decade, as well as in China (+16%) and Russia (+9%).
Italian Wine Exports Break Records
Last year was record-breaking for Italian wine exports, when Italian wine exports reached €6 billion (+6%), of which €1.36 billion came from sparkling wine sales (+14%).
Italian wine exports to France also broke a record last year, reaching €170 million and practically doubling (+92.3%) in the last 10 years, mainly due to sparkling wines (+276%).
In the same period, French wine exports to Italy collapsed by 14% in value. As a result, France is now the third biggest market for Italian wines in the EU, after Germany and the UK.
France remains the world leader in wine exports with a value of about €9 billion, well ahead of Italy’s €6 billion. However, Italy is the biggest producer in Europe with 40 million hectolitres, ahead of France (37 million hl) and Spain (36 million hl).
The US is the biggest consumer with 31.8 million hl, followed by France (27 million hl) and Italy (22.5 million hl).
International Demand
The Vinitaly-Nomisma Wine Monitor forecasts that, over the next five years, demand for Italian wine will stagnate in Europe, but grow significantly in other parts of the world.
By 2022, the highest growth will come from China (+38.5%), followed by Russia (+27.5%), the US (+22.5%) and Japan (+10%). The US will remain the biggest importer, going from €1.64 billion in 2017 to €2.01 billion in 2022. Second-placed Germany will see 2.5% growth to €890 million, followed by the UK with €796 million (+5%).
Over the past decade, Italian wine exports have grown 69% in value (+240% for sparkling wine), double that of France. Italy is a market leader in 16 countries, (France leads in 29). However, in emerging markets, Italy’s share rarely surpasses double-digit figures.
According to the Vinitaly-Nomisma Wine Monitor, overall global wine exports were worth €31 billion in 2017.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
