Austrian wine exports to UK slide

By Lisa Riley

Published: 23 March, 2021

Austrian wine exports to the UK dropped by 7.2% in volume and 5.2% in value to €4.8m last year, according to data released by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board (AWMB).

The dismal UK export figures, which are in stark contrast to overall annual exports of Austrian wine, follows the AWMB revealing in November that the value of Austrian wine sales in the UK had plummeted in the first six months of 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.

“Unfortunately both the UK’s export volume and value fell, badly affected by the pandemic and the closure of the gastronomy where the country's wines strength has always been,” the AWMB told Harpers.

Reversely, overall Austrian wine exports rose by 2.4% to a new high of €187.3m, while volumes rose 6.3%.

The increase came partly on the back of “significant gains” in the last quarter, said the AWMB, which had expected volumes exports to fall around 2.4% and values by around €175m based on export figures for the first eight months of the year.

The figures represented an “incredible performance”, said CEO Chris Yorke.

“Despite all the major wine trade fairs and events being cancelled, and pubs, restaurants and shops staying shut for months, we saw an increase in both volume and value. This demonstrates the great appeal that Austrian wine now enjoys around the world.”

The decrease in wine distributed in the on-trade was partly off-set by more wine being sold in the off-trade and online. However, the average price fell from €2.89 per litre in 2019 to €2.78 last year.

Alongside the main export market of Germany, the other key markets of Switzerland and the Netherlands also showed upward trends.

While the USA and Asia declined, the monopoly markets of Scandinavia and Canada showed particularly strong growth.

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