In China, approximately 24.7% less wine was consumed in 2023 compared to 2022, placing strain on an already diminishing world market.
Global wine consumption dropped 2.6% last year to 221m hectolitres, according to the International Organisation Of Vine and Wine’s (OIV) annual report on the global wine trade in 2023.
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Preliminary figures estimate 6.8m hectolitres of wine was drunk in China in 2023, making it the ninth-largest wine-consuming nation in the world.
This figure has been declining since 2018 – when consumption sat at 17.6m hectolitres.
The two decades prior were characterised by “rapid growth in consumption”, the OIV said.
Wine imports in China also declined for the sixth consecutive year, dropping 26.1% in volume to 2.5m hectolitres and 21.7% to €1.1bn ($1.18bn).
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By GlobalDataHowever, speaking to Just Drinks this week, Ian Ford, founding partner of Hong Kong-headquartered drinks consultancy Nimbility, predicted the decline in shipments to China had “largely bottomed out”.
Last month, China lifted tariffs on imports of Australian wine put in place in 2020 – Australia had been the country’s largest wine importer.
Ford said the revival of trade with Australia could provide an “inflection point” in declining shipments to China.
“I see enthusiasm amongst many Australian producers to return to the market, but with eyes wide open to the fact that the wine market of today in China is not the wine market of pre-Covid or pre-tariffs,” he said.
Despite trade re-opening with Australia, it appears the Chinese are simply drinking less wine than pre-pandemic and Ford cautioned: “The China wine market is unlikely to boom again any time soon.”
“Economic factors are definitely at play here,” he said. “Consumer confidence has wavered, discretionary spending on and consumption of alcohol has decreased.”
He said there is anecdotal evidence younger generations are drinking less but “there also doesn’t appear to be much data yet to support that theory”.
“Overall this is a segment of the market that is much more conscious of health and wellness, which may have led to moderation in their consumption of alcohol relative to older generations, although again this is not a very data-driven conclusion,” he explained.
Diminishing interest in wine is not unique to China, however.
Global wine consumption has been dropping gradually since 2007 and the trend is accelerating. An estimated 2m hectolitres less wine was drunk in 2022 versus 2021, according to the OIV.
Speaking to Just Drinks earlier this year, industry experts said a lack of branding could be behind falling global wine consumption.
Laurent Delauney, owner of Delaunay Vins et Domaines wine group in France, argued the appellation-focused business model has lost the country 14% of its global market share in the last two decades.
