US Overtakes France as World’s Biggest Wine Market

14 May 2014 --- The United States has become the world’s biggest wine market, leaping ahead of France for the first time. Consumption has dropped by around 7% a year in France, while American consumers have developed a taste for wine with a rise of 0.5% last year compared to 2012, according to the International Vine and Wine organization (OIV).

But while US consumers bought 29.1m hectolitres of wine in 2013 compared with 28.1m for France, US drinkers are still a long way behind the European nation in terms of consumption per head. The average French person drinks just over a bottle a week, which is around six times more than the average American, according to the research.

“In countries such as France, Italy and Spain, people used to drink a lot of wine, but consumption habits are changing,” OIV director general Jean-Marie Aurand said. “In France we are drinking less wine by volume, but seeking more quality wine. And there is also competition from other drinks such as beer.”

France is the world’s third largest wine producer behind Italy and Spain. France is still the world’s top wine exporter in value at 7.8bn euros, ahead of its two main competitors.

World wine production rose last year by 9.4% to 279m hectolitres, aided by record production in Spain, Chile, South Africa and New Zealand, according to the OIV. But the Paris-based group warned of a likely sharp drop in output in the southern hemisphere for the year ahead, due to adverse weather conditions. The group estimated a fall of around 20% in Argentina and possibly the same in Chile, while Australian production could also drop.