History of Wine - Global Production
In 2020, the European Union’s vineyard area was 3.2 million hectares, led by Spain, with 1 million hectares, France with 800 thousand hectares and Italy with more than 700 thousand hectares. On the other hand, China has positioned itself as a strong producer with more than 800,000 hectares, mostly in the last decade.
In America, the United States has 410,000 hectares, Argentina has 215,000 and Chile has 200,000. Australia has 146 thousand hectares, New Zealand 40 hectares and South Africa 128 thousand. It is worth mentioning that there has been a decline in these figures worldwide over the last decade. These figures also include the surface area of table grapes.
It depends above all on the geopolitical situation and on the religious beliefs of each country whether the grape is intended for the production of fruit or wine. However, China is the country that consumes the most fruit in the form of grapes.
The list of the world’s leading wine producers is led by Italy with 5.020 million liters, followed by France with 3.76 billion, Spain with 3.530 million, the US with 2.410 million, Australia with 1.420 million, Chile with 1.34 billion, Argentina with 1.250 million, South Africa with 1.080, other important producers are Germany, Portugal, China, Russia, Romania, Brazil, New Zealand, Hungary, Austria, Greece, Georgia and Moldova (Source: OIV 2022).
The list of wine-exporting countries is led by France with €11,100 Mill, followed by Italy with €7,100 Mill., Spain with €2,900 Mill., Chile with €1,700 Mill., Australia with €1,300 Mill., USA. USA (€1,200 Mill.), New Zealand (€1,200 Mill.), Germany (€991 Mill.), Portugal (€924 Mill.), Argentina (€700 Mill.). (Source: OIV April 2022. Value (in Millions of Euros)
Wine consumption has declined in traditionally wine-growing countries such as France (by almost 40% in 2006) in the last four decades. Economic studies have addressed the reasons for this decline. In other countries, however, growth has been sustained.
The ranking of wine-consuming countries is led by Portugal (51.9 liters per person), followed by France (49.6 liters), Italy (46 liters), Switzerland (35.3), Austria (30.6 liters), Australia (28.7 liters), Germany (27.5 liters), Spain (26.2 liters), in South America, this ranking is led by Argentina (24.5 liters), in Chile this figure is close to 22 liters per person per year.