Tough vintage: disappointing harvests due to extreme weather, consumers deterred by high prices

This is evident from the annual report of the International Organization for Vine and Wine (OIV). Wine consumption fell by 2.6 percent in 2023. Except for a small rebound in 2021, the amount of wine consumed worldwide has been declining since 2017. Consumers already had less to spend due to inflation, the OIV writes, and wine also became considerably more expensive because production and distribution costs were rising.

The fact that wine prices have risen sharply is clearly visible in the export figures. Nearly half of the wine produced worldwide is not consumed in the country of origin, but exported. Bottled wine cost as much as 4.70 euros per liter last year. The average liter price of wine, including sparkling wine, wine-in-a-pack and bulk packaging of more than 10 liters, was 3.62 euros last year. That is the highest price ever measured by OIV. In 2020, the liter price was still well below 3 euros.

Not only sales are disappointing, wine production also fell last year. Wine producers are struggling with extreme weather and mold outbreaks. Due to disappointing grape harvests, production was at its lowest level since 1961. At 237.7 million hectoliters, the total wine harvest barely exceeds the amount of wine consumed.

Of the largest wine countries, only France recorded a slightly larger harvest than a year earlier. Heavy rainfall with mold formation affected Italian wine producers, who harvested almost a quarter less than a year earlier. Not since 1950 has the Italian wine harvest been so small. In Spain it was too dry and too hot during the growing season, and the harvest was disappointing there too. This year is also likely to be a major disappointment for Spanish wine growers. Last week it was announced that sparkling wine producer Freixenet wants to put 80 percent of its employees on leave. Due to the persistent drought, it seems likely that another grape harvest will fail.

Dutch viticulture

Dutch wine growers actually had a good year: the Dutch wine harvest has never been as large as in 2023. This was announced by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) earlier this year. In the Netherlands, the changeable start to the summer was more than compensated by a sunny late summer. At 12,774 hectoliters, this is a drop in the ocean, less than 0.1 percent of global production.

However, the Netherlands is an important player on the wine import market: only Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and France import more wine in absolute terms. In terms of population, Portuguese are the biggest wine drinkers, they consume more than 60 liters per year per inhabitant aged 15 or older. France and Italy follow with more than 40 liters. The Dutch drink about as much wine as the British and Spaniards, on average 23 liters per person over 15.