‘Extreme’ climate blamed for world’s worst wine harvest in 62 years
The number of farming households in South Korea fell below 1 million for the first time ever in 2023, and half of farmers were aged 65 or older, data showed.
The number of farming households came to 999,000 as of December 2023, down 2.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
It marked the first time that the figure has fallen below the 1 million mark since 1949 when the agency began compiling related data, though the data has a margin of error of about 10,000 households, the agency said.
The number of farming households has been on a decline due to urbanization and rapid aging.
The population figure also dropped
3.5 percent on-year to 2.09 million in 2023.
Of the population engaged in farming, 36.7 percent, the largest share, were in their 70s and older, followed by those in their 60s and in their 50s. (Yonhap)
French
Graphic by Nam Kyung-don
For inquiries regarding the use of The Korea Herald’s Graphic News, please contact sabinalee@heraldcorp.com
PARIS (AFP) — World wine production dropped 10 percent last year, the biggest fall in more than six decades, because of “extreme” climate changes, the body that monitors the trade said.
“Extreme environmental conditions” including droughts, fires and other problems with climate were mostly to blame for the drastic fall, said the International Organization of Vine and Wine that covers nearly 50 wine producing countries.
Australia and Italy suffered the worst, with 26 and 23 percent drops. Spain lost more than a fifth of its production. Harvests in Chile and South Africa were down by more than 10 percent.
The OIV said the global grape harvest was the worst since 1961, and worse even than its early estimates in November.
In further bad news for winemakers, customers drank three per cent less wine in 2023, the Frenchbased intergovernmental body said.
Director John Barker highlighted “drought, extreme heat and fires, as well as heavy rain causing flooding and fungal diseases across major northern and southern hemisphere wine producing regions.”
Although he said climate problems were not solely to blame for the drastic fall, “the most important challenge that the sector faces is climate change. “We know that the grapevine, as a long-lived plant cultivated in often vulnerable areas, is strongly affected by climate change,” he added.
France bucked the falling harvest trend, with a 4 percent rise, making it by far the world’s biggest wine producer.
Wine consumption last year was however at its lowest level since 1996, confirming a fall-off over the last five years, according to the figures.
The trend is partly due to price rises caused by inflation and a sharp fall in wine drinking in China — down a quarter — due to its economic slowdown.
The Portuguese,
and
Italians remain the world’s biggest wine drinkers per capita.
Barker said the underlying decrease in consumption is being “driven by demographic and lifestyle changes. But given the very complicated influences on global demand at the moment,” it is difficult to know whether the fall will continue.
“What is clear is that inflation is the dominant factor affecting demand in 2023,” he said.
Land given over to growing grapes to eat or for wine fell for the third consecutive year to 7.2 million hectares. But India became one of the global top 10 grape producers for the first time with a 3 percent rise in the size of its vineyards.
France, however, has been pruning its vineyards back slightly, with its government paying winemakers to pull up vines or to distil their grapes. The collapse of the Italian harvest to its lowest level since 1950 does not necessarily mean there will be a similar contraction there, said Barker.
Between floods and hailstones, and damp weather causing mildew in the center and south of the country, the fall was “clearly linked to meteorological conditions,” he said.