Champagne sales in France at 40-year low

CHAMPAGNE sales in France dropped to their lowest in four decades last year, excluding a halt during the Covid pandemic, as the cost of living crisis bit French drinkers.

But growers said they were not overly worried by the fall as they managed to sell less bottles at a higher price.

The French are by far the biggest consumers of their home-grown sparkling wine, accounting for more than 40 per cent of shipments, but inflation has weighed on household budgets, according to the Comité Champagne, which represents producers.

Some 127million bottles were sold in France last year, a drop of 8.2 per cent and the lowest in 40 years.

“The domestic market is suffering more than export markets from inflation,” said the Comité.

A rising number of French are turning to cheaper sparkling wines, from local crémant to prosecco and cava.

To counter this, champagne prices in French supermarkets dropped by more than 20 per cent over Christmas.

Foreign shipments from champagne also dropped 8.2 per cent to 172 million bottles, a figure nevertheless well over the 2019 mark of 156million.

Overall domestic and foreign shipments fell to 299million bottles last year, said the champagne board.

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic caused sales to plummet to around 245million bottles, before rising to 320 million in 2021 and 326 million in 2022.

However, growers made up for the lower volumes in 2023 by selling more expensive labels, especially abroad, keeping revenue above €6billion – a record watermark reached for the first time in 2022, according to the Comité.

The slide in domestic consumption means foreign sales now account for 57 per cent of total volume, compared to 45 per cent a decade ago.