Australia’s wine export revenues jumped by more than a third last year, helped by the re-opening of China – but sales to the rest of the world were down.
According to trade body Wine Australia, the value of the country’s overseas wine sales was up 34% at A$2.55bn ($1.59bn) in 2024, with volumes increasing 7% to 649 million litres.
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The growth in export value was largely driven by a surge in shipments to mainland China, following the removal of tariffs on Australian bottled wine at the end of March last year.
Australia’s wine export sales elsewhere declined by 13% in value to A$1.64bn. Volumes dropped 7% to 565 million litres.
In the nine months between April and December, Australia exported 83 million litres of wine to China, valued at $902m. The average value of these exports was $10.79 per litre, contributing to a 24% increase in the average value of all packaged exports, which reached a high of $9.35 per litre, the figures from Wine Australia showed.
Wine Australia market insights manager Peter Bailey said: “While there has been month-to-month volatility in the value of shipments to mainland China in the period since tariffs were removed, the performance is nonetheless very positive.
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By GlobalData“However, Chinese wine consumption is much lower than it was before the import tariffs were imposed, so it will take more time before it becomes clear what the ‘new normal’ level of exports to mainland China will be, after this initial re-stocking period.”
Outside China, alcohol consumption “is facing numerous headwinds and this is impacting the results to other markets”, the trade association said in a statement.
“Many established wine markets consumption is declining due to health and wellness concerns and the rising cost of living. This has contributed to a global oversupply of wine and increased competition in already strained supply chains,” Wine Australia said.
When measuring the value of Australia’s wine exports, the country’s top five markets are mainland China, the UK, the US, Hong Kong and Canada.
Sales in each of the UK, the US and Hong Kong all declined, although revenues derived from Canada rose year on year.
Hong Kong had experienced a rise in shipments at the end of 2023, likely in anticipation of China’s tariff removal, Wine Australia said.
In volume terms, the UK is the largest customer for Australia’s wine. Volumes shipped to the UK fell 3.6% to 212 million litres.
Sales to the US, the country’s second-largest market by volume, dropped by more than a fifth to 106 million litres. Wine Australia pointed to a reduction in unpackaged wine exports to the US.
Export sales in Europe as a whole fell 4% to A$521m. Australia saw lower sales to the UK, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, although exports increased to Sweden, Belgium, Finland, Ireland and Poland,
In 2024, the share of Australia’s wine exports taken up by red and rosé wines increased from 54% to 60%.
Last week, South Africa reported a rise in wine export revenues in 2024 amid improved “packaged” wine volumes.
When measured in rands, the value of South Africa’s wine exports grew 3% to R10.3bn, trade body Wines of South Africa (WoSA) said. In US dollars, export sales stood at $562m, up 4.3% against 2023.
