Spain now 2nd largest producer

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The world’s wine drinkers are holding steady, consuming nearly 239 million hecolitres of wine in 2013, the OIV (International Organisation of Vine and Wine) in Paris said this week.

Production increased last year, however, by 8.5 percent worldwide, compared to the weak production in 2012. Spain in particular boosted its production by 31 percent to 42.7m hectolitres, bypassing France.

Production fell by 15 percent in China under the impact of government guidelines to restrict conspicuous consumption.

Three countries (Italy, Spain, France) now account for, almost in equal shares, 47 percent of world wine production, according to the OIV.

The amount of land given over to wine grapevines remains unchanged overall, but:

“Since the end of the EU programme to regulate wine production potential, European vineyards have stopped decreasing and almost stayed at the same level as for the previous year at 3481 kha [thousands of hectares]. Nevertheless, as in recent years, vineyards in China (+20 kha compared with the 2012 area under vines) and in South America (+3 kha in Argentina and 2 kha in Chile) have continued to increase.”