Global wine production back to average after bumper 2018
Global wine production dipped 10% this year driven by key European producers France, Italy and Spain, according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV).
In its first estimate for this year’s wine production, the OIV said global output was 'back to average’ at 263 million hectolitres (mhl) down from the bumper 294mhl output in 2018.
France and Italy, the two largest producers in the EU, recorded 15% falls in production while Spain suffered a 24% drop, with all three countries below their five-year average.
The OIV said the drop across the three countries, which combined account for 80% of the total EU output, could be explained by “aleatory weather conditions, notably a very cold and rainy spring followed by an extremely hot and dry summer”.
Accounting for about 60% of global wine output, production in the 28-nation EU as a whole was down 26.7mhl to 156mhl.
Portugal, it said, was the only EU country with a wine production higher than last year, with Germany, Austria, Romania and Hungary all showing production levels in line, or above, their last five-year average.
Outside the EU, production was high in countries such as Russia and Georgia, said the OIV.
In the US, which accounts for about 12% of northern hemisphere production, a preliminary estimate put wine production down by 1% on 2018, although the OIV said the forecast could be reviewed in the next few months
In the southern hemisphere, there were also falls although output was “overall in line with the five-year average”, it said, adding Argentina and Chile, the two largest wine producers in South America, recorded falls of 10% and 7% respectively.
Production in South Africa was up 3% to 9.7mhl despite a drought that hit the grape harvest, but that was compared to a very poor output last year.
In Oceania, Australia registered a slight decline estimated at 12.5mhl - down 3% compared to 2018, but overall in line with its five-year average.
In New Zealand production registered close to 3.0 mhl in 2019, down 1% compared to 2018, for the fourth year in row a figure
OIV's global wine production estimates exclude juices and musts and are based on data from 28 countries, representing 85% of world wine production.
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