Of the top three wine producers in the world, Italy was the only producer to see growth in 2021, according to a Mediobanca study. Italy produced 50.2 million hl of wine in 2021, up 2% on the previous year, ahead of France with 37.6 million hl (-19% due to adverse weather conditions) and Spain with 35.3 million hl (-14%). The USA was the top wine consuming nation during the period, with consumption of 33.1 million hl (+1%), edging out France with 25.2 million hl (+9%) and Italy with 24.2 million hl (no change on 2020). Spain is the world’s leading wine exporter in terms of volume, exporting 23 million hl (+14%), followed by Italy with 22.2 million (+7.3%) and France with 14.6 million (+8%). However, France leads in terms of export value, with €11.1 billion (+27%) worth of exports, followed by Italy with €7.1 billion (+13%) and Spain with €2.9 billion (+10%). France mainly exports wine of higher quality and with a higher price (€7.38/litre), followed by Italy with €3.20/litre and Spain with €1.23/litre (bulk wine accounts for 56% of exports).

In Italy, sales of sparkling wines (+21%) grew above those of still wines (+12.4%), Mediobanca's study found. Organic wine sales increased 11% to reach a 3.3% market share; while vegan wine sales rose 24.8% to account for 2.2% of the overall market. EU countries accounted for 41.2% of Italian wine exports, followed by North America (34.1%), while Central and South America saw 22.8% growth. Last year, wine sales in the large-scale distribution channel grew 13.5% (the channel accounts for 35.6% of the market), as well as the recovery of HoReCa (+28.1%) whose share rose from 15.6% to 15.9%. All the other sales channels registered growth – direct sales (+5.4%), wine shops and bars (+22.9%) and wholesalers-intermediaries (+19.8%). Despite the uncertainties in 2022, leading Italian wine producers expect a 4.8% increase in sales compared to 2021, with exports growing by 5.6%. Sales are likely to be driven by the continued success of sparkling wines (+5.7% overall revenues, +7.5% exports) while still wines are expected to grow by 4.6% (+5.3% exports).

Source: https://www.esmmagazine.com/drinks/italy-the-only-top-wine-producer-to-see-growth-in-2021-175773