Global wine output plunges to 60-year low

Business a.m

The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) reports that global wine production has fallen 7 per cent from the previous year, resulting in the smallest harvest since 1961.

The   intergovernmental organisation that monitors wine production and consumption attributed the decline to extreme weather conditions, such as early frost, heavy rainfall, and drought, which have impacted vineyards around the world.

According to the OIV, the significant declines in global wine production can be attributed to major wine-producing countries in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Australia, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, and Brazil in the Southern Hemisphere, and Italy, Spain, and Greece in the Northern Hemisphere, experienced year-over-year variations ranging from -10% to -30%, mainly due to adverse weather conditions during the growing season.

Despite the link between extreme weather and climate change, the OIV has not explicitly made the connection.

In 2023, the OIV estimates that 244.1 million hectoliters of wine will be produced worldwide, the lowest level since 1961, when only 214 million hectoliters were produced. A hectoliter is equivalent to 133 standard wine bottles.

France is the world’s top wine producer for the first time in nine years, having maintained its previous production levels, according to the OIV. Italy was the second-largest producer, despite a 12 per cent drop, while Spain remained third despite a 14 per cent drop.

Overall, the EU’s wine production dropped 7 per cent to 150 million hectoliters, the third-lowest since the beginning of the century. Germany, in particular, saw a slight increase in 2023, despite the overall downward trend.

The US, the world’s fourth-largest wine producer, saw a 12 per cent increase in production in 2022 thanks to cooler temperatures and heavy winter rains in California’s Napa and Sonoma valleys. The OIV also noted that the low production levels could help to stabilise the shrinking global wine market and high inventory levels.