Since 1975, the wine consumption in France has steadily been decreasing and this development will continue like this until 2020, especially regarding the red wines. However, according to a study conducted by Vinexpo et International Wine and Spirit Reseach (IWSR) on 23rd June, the global wine and spirits consumption continues to increase.
Does France remain the country of wine?
Yes and no. Of course, France will stay number one among the wine-exporting countries, but the wine consumption will decrease by 13% between 2011 et 2020. In 1975, a French consumed about 100 litres of wine a year, whereas now, the average consumption is at just 47 litres a year and per head. However, this decline is not only a bad sign, because the French people drink less, but better now.
By 2020, the average wine consumption will even decrease to 43.63 litres a year and per head and Portugal will replace France as leader with a wine consumption of 49.79 litres per head.
Do the French people change their taste regarding wine?
The answer is short: Yes. Even if the French are still very keen on red wines, with a total market share of 52%, the tendency will change soon. By 2020, the red wine consumption will decrease by almost 13% and the one of white wine by a little bit more than 4%.
The great winners benefitting from this change will be the rosé wines, whose consumption is more and more increasing, with a total market share of 30%. However, not only the rosé-wines but also the sparkling wines, whose consumption will increase by 4% within the next 3 years, benefit from this change. Regarding the sparkling wines, the champagne will remain number one in France, but the country starts to feel attracted by the Italian Prosecco, who is representing more and more market shares in this sector.
Is the decline in the French wine consumption an exception?
Yes, the French are the only ones consuming less wine. In 2016, the global wine consumption increased by 0.4%, which represents about 267 million hectolitres. The United States and China are the greatest importers, but by 2020, China will represent about 71.8% of the “import market’s growth”.
Regarding the spirits, the decline is not as much important as it is for the wine. On an international basis, the spirits sector will increase by 1.4% by 2020. At the moment, the greatest spirits markets are China and India. Thanks to Africa and the Middle East, this market will increase within the next 3 years.
