OIV reveals China behind Spain as country with second biggest vineyard surface area

Published: 21 April, 2016

A major new report has found that the size of the global area under vines rose to 7534 kha in 2015, with consumption and production also on the up.

According to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), increases in vineyard surface area were predominantly in New Zealand and China, confirming China's place as the country with the second biggest vineyard surface area.

EU vineyards continued to decrease slightly (-26 kha between 2014 and 2015).

Spain remains a clear leader in terms of the cultivated surface area with over a million hectares (1.021 mha), ahead of China (0.82 mha) and France (0.78 mha).

The findings came from the director general of the OIV, Jean-Marie Aurand, who presented information on "the potential wine production, assessment of the harvest, and state of the market and international trade in 2015" at the organisation's headquarters in Paris on April 18.

In terms of global production, there was an increase of 5.8 mhl in the amount of wine being produced (excluding juice and must) in 2015.

It reached 274.4 mhl, equating to +5.8 mhl increase compared with 2014 production.

With growth of 12% compared to the previous year, Italy is the biggest producer in the world (49.5 mhl), followed by France (47.5 mhl) and Spain (37.2 mhl). The United States recorded an increase in its level of production (22.1 mhl) for the third year running.

In the Southern Hemisphere, production (excluding juice and must) declined in Argentina (13.4 mhl), increased in Chile (12.9 mhl) and remained stable in Australia (11.9 mhl).

Production fell slightly both in South Africa (11.2 mhl) and in China (11 mhl).

World wine consumption has been stable since the beginning of the 2008 economic and financial crisis. With 31 mhl, the United States confirmed its position as the biggest global consumer country.

Consumption was relatively stable in Italy (20.5 mhl) and in Spain (10 mhl), yet continued to erode in France (27.2 mhl) compared with that of 2014.

The level of consumption in China is estimated at 16 mhl - a slight increase of 0.5 mhl compared with 2014.

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