Wine exports slide on move from booze
Cost-of-living pressures have forced drinkers from New York to London to spend less on Australian wine, picking up cheaper bottles when they visit a bottle shop or restaurant in a trend that saw the nation’s wine exports slip 2 per cent in 2023.
There is also a growing trend of sobriety among Western consumers, as latest research indicates a significant negative shift in spending on all alcoholic beverages, with all regions except Asia trending negative.
In Europe – which holds some of Australia’s largest and most important wine export markets – 15 regions had a decline in the value of wine bought from Australia as a combination of a slowing economy, inflation and supply chain issues resulted in fewer sales.
It was a similar story in North America, where in the US and Canada wine exports slumped 7 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively.
However, Asia provided a ray of hope for Australian winemakers as sales in Hong
Kong boomed, up by 74 per cent in terms of value, while sales into Singapore were up by 1 per cent.
Latest data from Wine Australia shows wine exports fell by 2 per cent in value to $1.9bn and 3 per cent in volume to 607m litres in calendar 2023.
The big hope for Australian winemakers is that China will soon lift its tariffs on imported Australian wine, imposed in November 2021, with some set at more than 200 per cent to make it almost impossible to sell wine into China.
This allowed Australia’s biggest rivals such as winemakers from Italy, France and South America, to grab market share and win over Chinese drinkers.