Austria’s wine exports hit a high, but Brexit Britain proves 'challenging'

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 17 March, 2023

Austrian wine exports reached a record level in 2022 in terms of value, with Canada, the US and northern Europe among the thirstiest markets.

According to the latest figures from Statistics Austria, while export volume was a smidge down on 2021, at 67.7 million litres of wine (-3.5%), value reached an all-time high of €231.3m (+6.4%).

White wines and sekt saw the greatest overseas demand, according to the Austrian Wine Marketing Board (AWMB), with value increases of 7.9% and 19.8% respectively.

Canada led the charge in terms of growing imports of Austrian wine, up 46.7% in value YoY, to €10.7m. However, in Austria’s biggest export market, Germany, cheaper bulk grew slightly at the expense of bottled wine, delivering a -1.3% drop in value. In Switzerland, though, Austria’s second export territory by value, there was a rise of 8.6%.

Elsewhere, exports fell to both the UK and China, with the former dropping 38% in value, with the AWMB saying “as a result of Brexit, working this market has become more complicated and challenging”. China, meanwhile, lost 15.8% in value, with the effects of the pandemic continuing to impact on a “volatile” market.

“Success in the export markets, and especially the record average price, is very important for our wine industry,” said Chris Yorke, CEO of Austrian Wine (AWMB).

“The current wave of inflation is also hitting our winegrowers hard, which is why we need to focus on growing their added value.”

The industry is now focused on achieving its next export target of a quarter of a billion euros, according to Yorke, who added: “We can see that the targeted joint efforts of both Austrian Wine and the country’s winegrowers are paying off.”

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