Dip in Austrian exports expected after record 2023

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 27 January, 2025

The export curve of Austrian wine suffered a blip in 2024. After particularly strong growth in 2023, total export value for the first three quarters of 2024 sank 5.1%, while the export volume remained almost steady.

According to Austrian Wine, this reversal of fortunes follows a longer trend of increasing exports for the category, which have been on the rise for several years. Particularly strong growth was recorded in 2023, when export value reached a total of €248 million. This record was mainly driven by one-off high bottle sales to Germany. However, this momentum could not be maintained in the first three quarters of 2024, when total export value sank, while export volumes stayed almost the same at -0.1%.

It is expected that the total export value for 2024 will drop slightly below the 2023 figures, while still remaining above those of 2022.

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Overall, 2024 was “another challenging year”, Austrian Wine said in a statement, as “subdued consumer sentiment” in 2024 curbed demand for wine both on the Austrian market and internationally.

However, “rays of hope” remain via a roster of trade and consumer events which have continue to run successfully both at home and abroad.

To boost sales, the Austrian Wine Marketing Board, known widely as Austrian Wine, undertook targeted measures in the domestic market and internationally in 2024.

This included a total of 148 events, when over 6,000 wines from 980 Austrian wineries were presented. Most of the events took place abroad, highlighting the strategic role of exports.

One of the most important stages for Austrian wines remains wine fair VieVinum, which broke new ceilings in 2024. Over 1,200 international wine experts attended the trade fair – the highest number ever – where visitors tasted wines from more than 500 producers over three days.

Austrian wine is also in particularly high demand in “promising markets” of Canada and the Nordics (Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland), Austrian Wine noted.