China has become the world’s biggest red wine consuming nation.
The news knocks France and Italy, previous leaders, into second and third places in the league table of red wine drinkers.
The research commissioned by VINEXPO from IWSR, reveals the strategic importance of the dynamic Chinese market to European winemakers. Over 18,000 wine buyers and importers will gather in Hong Kong in May when 1,300 exhibitors from 28 countries show a wide range of both wines and spirits.
The VINEXPO/IWSR research shows that wine drinkers in China and Hong Kong consumed 1.865 billion bottles of red wine in 2013 (155 million 9-litre cases). This is an increase of 136% over the last five years, making China the world’s largest red wine market.
These figures show the ever-growing thirst in China for red wine, due to its perceived health benefits and the symbolic importance of the color red in the country.
By contrast, French consumption of red wine reached 150 million cases last year while Italian consumption reached 141 million cases. The United States consumed 134 million litters while Germany consumed 112 million.
Total wine consumption in China – red, white and rosé – is estimated to have reached 160 9-litre cases in 2013. More than 80% of the wines consumed in China are made from grapes grown in that country which is now the fifth largest wine producer in the world. While the rate of growth slowed by just over 2% in 2013, growth is expected to rise again in the run up to 2017 when total Chinese wine consumption should reach 230 million 9-litre cases.
According to the same report, increasing consumption levels in both China and the U.S. combined with declines in European production in 2012 following poor harvests in France, Italy and Spain, has raised the risk of a global shortage, which could lead to higher prices and increased demand for exports.
© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine by Enda Dowling
