In 2025, global wine consumption decreased by 2.7% year-on-year to a total of 208 million hectoliters . This is stated in the latest report ” The State of the World Wine Sector 2025” published by the International Organization of Viticulture and Wine (OIV). The document also notes that the reduction in global volumes reached 14% compared to 2018, Euronewes writes.
The OIV estimates that this dynamic reflects a combination of long-term changes in consumer patterns and the more challenging economic environment of recent years. In some mature wine markets, consumer behavior continues to be influenced by lifestyle changes, social and age-related habits.
Over the past eight years, pandemics, geopolitical tensions and the impact of climate change on vineyard conditions have exacerbated the situation. Trade disruptions and inflationary pressures have had a significant impact in recent years, also contributing to lower consumption.
In 2025, global vineyard area decreased by 0.8% year-on-year, the sixth consecutive year of decline. The trend affected all grape categories, but most notably wine grapes.
Global vineyard shrinkage and production characteristics
In terms of production, however, there was a slight increase of 0.6% last year, to 227 million hectoliters. However, the OIV emphasizes that the 2024 baseline was particularly low. The OIV goes on to note that “although production may appear higher than consumption, industrial uses such as distillation, vinegar production, wine-based products and spirits must be taken into account: it is estimated to average about 30 million hectoliters per year.”
Overall, 2023-2025 was the third consecutive period of low global production due to extreme weather events caused by rising global temperatures.
However, some countries – Brazil, New Zealand, South Africa and Moldova – have shown recovery from the 2024 crop failure.
U.S. tariffs weigh on global trade: exports down 4.7%
In terms of international trade, the report says, “2025 was characterized mainly by heightened trade uncertainty related to U.S. tariffs , combined with weakening demand in several important import markets.” For example, “global wine exports fell to 94.8 million hectoliters (-4.7 % compared to 2024) and their value fell to €33.8 billion (-6.7 %), reflecting both lower trade volumes and moderate price adjustments.”
The most dynamic markets in 2025 were Portugal, Brazil and Japan, as well as parts of Central and Eastern Europe. In particular, the European Union was a market of more than 100 million hectoliters in 2025, accounting for 48% of global consumption.
EU Member States, however, also experienced a decline, down 3.1% from the previous year and 6.9% from the average of the last 5 years.
The EU market – leaders and recession
France, Italy and Germany remain the three most important markets in Europe with consumption volumes of 22 million hl, 20.2 million hectoliters and 17.8 million hectoliters respectively. In all cases, however, these figures are declining. Likewise in Spain, where 9.4 million hectoliters was not exceeded. Consumption in the Netherlands also declined (2.9 million, -12.7% year-on-year).
Portugal, on the other hand, reached a production of 5.6 million hectoliters and, as already mentioned, seems to have reversed this trend, increasing by 5.6% compared to 2024. A similar trend is also seen in Romania, where wine consumption last year increased by 11% to 3.5 million hectoliters, and in Austria (+6%, 2.4 million hectoliters).
The US remains the largest market
Outside the EU, the United Kingdom is the fifth largest consumer in the world, albeit with a 2.4% drop in 2025 to 12.3 million hectoliters. Similarly, Russia recorded a 5.5% decline and Switzerland a 3.6% decline.
The US remains the world’s largest wine market, although consumption is down 4.3% to 31.9 million hectoliters in 2025. The OIV attributes this to a combination of demographic, behavioral and economic factors, including declining alcohol consumption among young people:
“Although the market has been growing and very resilient for many years, consumption has recently slowed,” the OIV notes.
Finally, the OIV notes that the level of internationalization of the market remains historically high: almost one in two bottles of wine is consumed outside the country of origin, confirming the structural role of international trade in the wine sector.
