Droughts, heat waves, fires, early frost, rain, diseases… The vines were once again not at the party last year. No wonder in these conditions that global wine production fell by 10% in 2023, while consumption fell by 3%, indicated Thursday the International Wine Organization. The world’s winegrowers produced a total of 237 million hectoliters, their lowest harvest since 1961.
The harvest particularly suffered in Italy (-23% to 38 million hectoliters) and in Spain (-21% to 28 million hectoliters) while it increased slightly in France (+4% to 48 million hectoliters). hectoliters), allowing France to become, by far, the leading wine producer in the world.
The OIV had already anticipated a drop in production in a first estimate in November, but of a lesser magnitude (between 241.7 and 246.6 million hectoliters).
Australia, South Africa and Chile in difficulty
This decline is the direct consequence of “extreme environmental conditions” having affected both the northern and southern hemispheres, the director of the OIV, John Barker, told journalists. The harvest thus fell by 11% in Chile, 26% in Australia and 10% in South Africa, the three largest producers in the southern hemisphere. As the harvest ends there, production in this area should rebound by 5% in 2024, according to initial estimates from the OIV.
As for drinkers, consumption fell by 3% last year to 221 million hectoliters, its lowest level since 1996, thus confirming a downward trend since 2018 (with a single jump in 2021). This trend is partly linked to inflation, which has increased production costs and therefore the price of a bottle or box of wine, while reducing the purchasing power of consumers. The lower demand is also “driven by demographic and lifestyle changes,” acknowledged John Barker. The Portuguese, French and Italians are, per capita, the biggest consumers.
India enters the largest vineyards
Wine exports fell by 6% in volume to their lowest level since 2010, with fewer bottles, cubes or bulk leaving Chile, South Africa or France. According to the OIV, some buyers may have been deterred by the average export price, which rose to 3.62 euros per liter, a record, and 29% more than in 2020.
The area devoted to vines, for the production of wine or table grapes, for its part fell for the third consecutive year, by 0.5% in 2023 to 7.2 million hectares.
In France, where the government subsidized distillation and grubbing programs to deal with overproduction in certain regions, it fell by 0.4%. On the other hand, the surface area increased by 3% in India, which entered the top 10 largest vineyards in the world.
The fall in production in Italy should not result in a massive abandonment of hectares of vines, according to John Barker. Between rains favoring the appearance of mildew in the central and southern regions, hail and floods, the decline “was clearly linked to weather conditions”, and therefore normally momentary, he said.
The scourges that have affected vines this year are very disparate and the influence of climate change has not been established in all cases.