The International Organization of Vine and Wine - that we call more simply the OIV - presented the 18 April the figures for the global wine industry for the harvest 2015. A year marked by a strong strengthening of the Chinese vineyard. Export, French wine ranks first in value. But let's go into more detail.
A declining global vineyard
The world vineyard is 7,53 million hectares, all products combined, continuing to regress slightly, "But less than in recent years" specifies the OIV, with a loss of 7.000 hectares, mainly in Europe.
With over a million hectares, Spain remains by far the world's largest vineyard. China seems to consolidate its second place thanks to a significant annual increase. It therefore took the lead on France which closed the podium with a fairly stable vineyard of 78’000 hectares. This result should however be put into perspective., because these results do not take into account the use of grapes. Although China is the second largest producer of grapes in the world, she is only the ninth largest producer of wine in the world. China therefore produces a lot of table grapes.
Wine production on the rise
The year 2015 was relatively good for grape harvesting and wine production. Near 274,4 million hectoliters have been produced worldwide, which 60 % in Europe. We can also see that the three largest producers, what are Italy, France and Spain still lead the way. The American vineyard retains its fourth place with a relatively stable production since 2012 with 22,1 million hectoliters.
Outside the infographic, it is important to note the success of New Zealand, whose exports increased by 14 % and who predict this year a growing harvest of 3 million hectoliters, almost a quarter of its past production.
Wine consumption is increasing slightly
Since the crisis of 2008, wine consumption remained particularly stable and recorded a very slight increase in 0,9 million hectoliters consumed. In 2015, The United States maintains its position as the world's largest consumer with 31 million hectoliters, followed by the hexagon and its 27,2 millions consumed, then Italy and 20,5 million hectoliters consumed.
France remains the leading consumer of wine per capita and per year with nearly 41 liters. That is four times more than the average American consumption.
Exports more profitable than ever
International wine trade has experienced a boom in 10,6 % in 2015, with a market of 28,3 Billions of Euro's. Spain largely dominates exports with a volume of 24 million hectoliters. But, as I was able to explain it to you before, quantity does not necessarily mean quality. It is therefore indeed France that brings in the jackpot for exports. With 14 million hectoliters exported (that is to say 13,4 % of the total exchange), French wine is a profit of 8,2 Billions of Euro's.
A phenomenon of worldwide improvement in wine quality is emerging. If the trend is confirmed over the long term, France might find it difficult to keep its place. The United States gains the place of the fastest growing world exports by value : +26,5 %. This increase is accompanied by a slight increase in volume (+3,5 %), which confirms the growth in the valuation of American wines on foreign markets. The same goes for Australia, Argentina or to a lesser extent Chile.
The majority of exports are made on bottles (54 %), then comes the bulk (38 %), then the effervescent (8 %). "The bulk share is constantly increasing and we are witnessing a gradual rebalancing with the bottle", comments Jean-Marie Aurand, director general of the OIV. Similarly,, sparkling wines continue to grow in terms of both volume and value (respectively +5,6 % to +10,8 %). Conditioned wines - the opposite of bulk - are an essential factor in the valuation of the product since they represent 72 % market share.
"More than two out of five bottles, consumed in the world are now consumed in a country other than their place of production ”Jean-Marie Aurand, director general of the OIV
A quick point on organic wines
Wine from organic farming continues to progress to reach between 8 % to 12 % of world wine production volumes in 2015. Organic wine production is growing worldwide in response to consumer expectations, more sensitive to environmental issues.
Jean-Nicolas Mouretin
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