According to OIV data this April, 236 million hectoliters of wine were consumed globally in 2021, 0.7 percent more than the previous year.
The countries consuming the most, in millions of hectoliters, are the United States (14 percent), France (11 percent), Italy (10 percent), Germany (8 percent) and the United Kingdom (6 percent).
In Europe
The European Union as a whole accounts for the largest wine consumption in the world, with 48 percent of the total, or about 114 million hectoliters.
At the national level, however, there are marked differences in wine consumption behavior among different geographical regions.
In Italy, wine consumption in 2021 was 24.2 million hl, accounting for 10 percent of world wine consumption and ranking second among EU countries and third globally. These figures represent the highest point ever achieved since the 2008 financial crisis.
France recorded a consumption of 25.2 million hl of wine, confirming its position as the first EU country and the second globally in terms of wine consumption, with an increase of 8.6 percent over 2020.
For Spain, wine consumption also increased by 9.9 percent over 2020, with 10.5 million hl of wine.
But not for all EU countries growth was positive: Portugal contracted by -0.6%/2020 (4.6 Mio hl), Belgium by -4.1%/2020 (2.5 Mio hl), and Greece by -0.4% (2.2 Mio hl). Germany, the world’s fourth-largest consumer, also posted a slight decrease of -0.2% (19.8 Mio hl).
However, for many countries the direction was reversed, such as for Romania (4.0 Mio hl, +4.6%/2020), the Netherlands (3.8 Mio hl, +3.4%/2020), and the Czech Republic (2.3 Mio hl, +11.9%/2020).
The United Kingdom and Russia also recorded positive figures (+3.4% and +2%, respectively).
Outside Europe
The United States remained the leader in wine consumption with 33.1 million hl, accounting for 14% of total consumption.
As for Latin American countries, the report notes that in Argentina consumption has decreased by 11.1 percent compared to 2020, while Brazil has seen an increase in consumption of about 1.2 percent compared to 2020.
In Asia, the data are negative: in China in 2021 they indicate a value of 10.5 million hl, a 15% decrease compared to 2020 (a contraction that has been going on now since 2017), while in Japan they estimate a -5.4% contraction compared to 2020 (3.3 million hl).
Moving to South Africa, wine consumption increased by 27.5% over 2020, thanks to the lifting of confinement measures that banned alcohol sales for fourteen weeks.
Finally, Australia saw a slight increase in consumption of +0.3% (5.9 million hl, the highest level of consumption ever recorded in Australia.
To consult the entire report, which reviews not only consumption but also wine production, vineyard areas and international trade, please click on the following link (only available in Italian): https://www.oiv.int/js/lib/pdfjs/web/viewer.html?file=/public/medias/8785/it-nota-aprile-2022.pdf
