ProWein predicts biggest growth opportunities in the USA and Asia

By Erin Smith

Published: 01 December, 2014

Global wine trade show Prowein is forecasting stable world demand for wines in 2015 and sees North America and Asia as the largest markets for growth in the coming year.

According to the OIV's latest reports France, China, Italy and Australia and Austria have all seen consumption fall, but America, Germany and Greece have seen an increase in consumption.

"Posting 29 million hl in 2013, the USA became the largest consumer market in the world for the first time, mainly because the heavy drop in consumption in France (28 million hl) has continued," said the forecast.

Producers that are looking to export are eyeing the USA because in relative terms per capita consumption is still low and the population numbers are relatively large, making the potential for market growth significant.

According to the Wine Institute of California's most recent numbers in 2012 there were 313.9 million people in the United States and in 2009 litres per capita consumption was 9.08. In 2012 the litres per capita consumption increased to 10.42, which is a 14.7% increase over the three year period.

Waht's more, in 2013 wine consumption in the US posted a positive gain, and has been growing year on year for the last two decades.

According to figures released by the Wine Institute of California earlier this year, "wine shipments to the US from all production sources ?California, other states and foreign producers ? grew 3% to 375.2 million cases with an estimated retail value of $36.3 billion. This represents 21 consecutive years of volume growth. The US has been the largest wine consuming nation in the world since 2010."

California wine represented 57% of the US market share in 2013.

Similarly, in that time in France, litres per capita consumption dropped 4% from 46.05 litres per person in 2009 to 44.19 litres per person in 2012.

The exponential growth seen in China has slowed, but Euromonitor International, the global consumer market research firm, predicts that China will become the world's largest wine market by 2017.

Wine being traded internationally has risen in the last decade. According to ProWein's figures, "since 2005 the global volume of imported and exported wine has risen from 72 million hl to 99 million hl for 2013."

Germany topped the chart as the largest importing country, according to ProWein's figures, bringing in 15 million hl, beating the UK which imports 13 million hl every year, followed by the USA which is importing 11 million hl of wine annually.

ProWein is set to take place in Düsseldorf, Germany, from March 15 to 17, 2015.

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