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OIV reports USA is biggest wine market by volume in the world

Published:  14 May, 2014

The International Wine and Vine Organisation (OIV) says that despite overall wine consumption dropping slightly in 2013 to 238.7 millions of hectolitres, the US overtook France last year and became the biggest wine consuming country by volume in the world.

The United States consumed 29.1 mhl of wine in 2013, bypassing France which declined by 7.8% (2.1 mhl) and consumed 28.2 mhl in 2013.

China also suffered a 3.8% decline in consumption and according to the report released by OIV, "the rapid growth in consumption in recent years appears to have come to a sudden end". However, the decline could also be attributed to recent austerity and anti-corruption measures passed by the Chinese government.  

The global decline seen in 2013 compared to 2012 was partially blamed on low-yielding harvests in several global wine producing areas in 2012 as well as economies still recovering from the global financial crisis.

The report stated: "The long-awaited recovery that will mark the end of the financial and subsequently economic crisis, which began in 2008, is still to take place. Furthermore, the 2012 vitivinicultural year was marked by a very low level of world production that restricted world consumption levels at the end of 2012, and particularly in 2013. Indeed, with 2012 production following on from a succession of modest productions, stocks were low at the start of the 2012/13 harvest - although there were some regional exceptions to this macroeconomic vision.

"The reduced production in 2012 was partly responsible for the -2.2% decline in the volumes exported in 2013," according to OIV data.

Globally 2013 saw a rise in production of 24 mhl over 2012, resulting in 278.7 mhl of wine being produced world-wide. Italy is still the largest volume producing wine country globally, followed closely by France, Spain, the US and Argentina.

Jean-Marie Auraund, the director general of the OIV presented the findings yesterday at the 'state of market' and harvest update report held in Paris.

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