Over the past 20 years, Italy's share of the global wine export market has grown from 17% (in 2003) to 22% (in 2023), while France's share has declined from 38% to 33%, new data has shown.
This growth solidifies Italy's position as the second-largest wine exporter globally.
Italy is now the leading wine exporter to 51 countries, compared to France's 46.
Notably, two decades ago, France dominated with 41 leading markets, while Italy only had 9, according to the data, which was prepared by theItalian industry association Federvini, Nomisma, and TradeLab.
Major Contributor To Italian Economy
The Italian wine industry is a major contributor to the country's economy, with a turnover of €21.5 billion, a network of more than 2,300 companies, and employing more than 81,000 people. It also accounts for roughly 20% of Italy's food and beverage exports of €10 billion.
The United States remained the world's leading consumer of wine in 2023 and also the top importer by value, spending over €6 billion on foreign wines.
Decline In Imports
However, the global picture shows a decline in wine imports last year, compared to 2022.
Bucking this trend are the UK and France, which saw import value growth of 2% and 10%, respectively.
According to the data, negative import trends are concentrated in still and bottled wines. In contrast, sparkling wines are experiencing significant growth, particularly in France, where Prosecco's popularity has continued to surge (+30%).
While global wine imports are declining, Italian exports have held their ground more effectively than competitors. Despite a slight decrease of 0.8% in both value and volume, Italy outperformed France (-2.8% value, -9% volume), Spain (-3.2% value, -4.1% volume), and Chile (-22.4% value, -18% volume).
