Global Wine Production Hits 60-Year Low

Wine production for 2017 is forecasted to be the lowest recorded in 60 years. The International Organisation of Vine & Wine (OIV) have released their annual report into the wine industry for 2017. The report has revealed that 2017 wine production has seen an 8.6% reduction in wine produced. Production was recorded at 250 mhl in 2017 which is down – 14.6% from 2016.

The reasoning behind this dramatic drop is being blamed on the climate conditions in countries like France, Spain & Italy. Weather conditions across Europe have been mixed in 2017 with extreme hot and cold climates which cause adverse effects on the vines.

Severe spring frosts and adverse hot weather mean that Italy is facing its smallest harvest for 60 years and France is expected to produce one of its lowest grape hauls in the post-Second World War era.

USA, Australia and Argentina have had standard harvests in 2017. Due to the Californian wild fires at the end of 2017, USA levels are set to drop slightly. Australia and Argentina are the only two countries in the top 6 to have a positive record on the wine production statistics.

In other figures released in the report, global area under vines appears to have stabilised in 2017, to 7.6mha. Areas like China have slowed in their growth of vines whilst areas like Turkey and Spain have decreased. The one area of development for Europe is in Italy, despite decreased volume of wine production, areas under vine have increased by 5 kha.

Wine consumption levels have risen again in 2017 to 243 mhl which is an increase of 1.8 mhl from 2016. Levels in recent years have stabilised in and around the 240 mhl’s. The United States still consume the most wine globally. The USA consume over 5.0 mhl more in wine every year then its nearest challenger France.

With wine consumption levels rising and wine production levels decreasing it is already expected that wine prices will continue to rise throughout 2018.