According to the latest figures published by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), Spain now occupies second place on the list of wine exporter countries by volume, relegating France to third place, and only exceed by Italy. The wine authority’s estimates indicate that in 2008 France exported 13.6 million hectolitres of wine, representing 15 percent of the market share, while Spain exported 16.5 million hectolitres, equivalent to 19 percent. In turn, Italy exported 17.2 million hectolitres of wine.

However, France is still the number one wine exporter country by value and the largest country in wine consumer terms, despite the reduction in wine production over the past two years.

Another change noted throughout 2008 was on the consumption front. Global consumption fell by 2 million hectolitres last year, in other words 0.8 percent, owing, primarily, to the decrease registered in time-honoured major consumer and producer countries, such as France, Italy, Spain, and Germany, as well as to the effects of the world recession. For the very first time, the US exceeded Italy in consumption trends, with US consumers buying close to 27.3 million hectolitres of wine in 2008 compared to the 26 million bought by Italian consumers, as stated by the OIV’s figures.

“It’s evident that the global financial crisis has played an important role in the fall of worldwide demand. However, the best results have also been registered on the world wine market, whose volume continues to grow on a yearly basis. International trade represented 37 percent of world consumption in 2008 compared to 18 percent at the beginning of the 80s and 35 percent in 2006. This means that close to 37 percent of all world wine is consumed outside of its country of origin”, stated Federico Castellucci, Managing Director for the OIV.