“In 2020, the year of the Covid-19 crisis, the volume of wine consumed drops by 3% and wine production falls just below the average for the second consecutive year“.

In the past year there has been a slight increase (allowed limit of 1% per year) of the surface of vineyards in the world, estimated at around 7.3 Mio hectares. This positive trend is found in France and Italy, where the vineyard areas are respectively 797 kha (+0.4%) and 719kha (+0.8%). Negative trend, however, in Spain and Portugal: -0.6% and -1.8%.

A positive trend was also recorded on the wine production front, excluding juices and musts: +1% compared to 2019, for a total of 260 mhl. Although positive, this value remains slightly below the average for the second consecutive year. “In the total global volume, the EU counts for 165 million hectoliters: + 8% (or +12 million hectoliters) compared to 2019. Italy is still the first producer in the world in 2020 (49.1 mhl), followed by France (46.6 mhl) and Spain (40.7%); the first three producers account for 53% of all world production in 2020”.

In 2020, however, the negative trend mainly concerned world wine consumption, estimated at 234 mhl for a 3% decrease. In the United States, wine consumption remained stable compared to 2019, with a share of 33 million hectoliters. In Italy, on the other hand, the highest consumption in the last 10 years was recorded: + 7.5% with 24.5 million hectoliters and + 10% on the five-year average.

“In 2020 the world wine export market contracted slightly in volume, reaching 105.8 mhl (-1.7%), and a relatively large decline in value, with EUR 29.6 billion (-6, 7%). Italy is the world’s leading supplier of wine in terms of volume with 20.8 million hl (-2.4%), equal to 20% of the entire global market; followed by Spain (20.2 mhl, -5.9%) and France (13.6 mhl, -4.9%)”. By value, on the other hand, France is the first supplier with a turnover of 8.7 billion EUR, even if it has lost 1.1 billion EUR compared to 2019 (-10.8%). Italian wine exports generated a total value of EUR 6.23 billion (-2%).