Decanter World Wine AwardsChina overtakes UK to become fifth largest wine-consuming nation: Vinexpo
- Wednesday 11 January 2012
Results from the annual study by The International Wine & Spirit Research (IWSR) show that between 2009 and 2010 consumption of still, light and sparkling wines grew by 33.4% in China (and Hong Kong included), leading to a total of 156.19m 9-litre bottles being consumed in 2011, knocking the UK into sixth position in the world-wine consumption market.
In the five-year period from 2006 to 2010, China and Hong Kong’s wine consumption grew 2.4 times larger with the study forecasting a further 54.25% rise between 2011 and 2015.
"Every producer is now thinking 'China, China, China’" said Robert Beynat, chief executive of Vinexpo.
Per capita consumption is also predicted to rise in China by 2015 from 1.9 to 2 litres of wine per person per year by 2015.
By comparison, French and Italian average yearly consumption per adult is expected to be around 50 litres by 2015 while Americans will be consuming an average of 13 litres per capita by the same date.
Meanwhile, the U.S has displaced both France and Italy to come top in the list of the world’s biggest wine-consuming nations by volume.
In 2011, US consumption reached 311.3m cases - equivalent to 3.7 billion bottles - with the IWSR study forecasting a further 10% rise between 2011 and 2015.
In the UK, figures show a predicted 4.13% decline in consumption and a per capita drop from 26 litres per year to 24 litres in the next five years as consumers ‘drink better and less’.
“The economy influences consumption - there’s no doubt about that - and this crisis means that people are buying bottle by bottle, not case by case,” said Beynat.
“People will continue to drink. New consumers and young people are interested about wine because there’s a culture in wine. It’s a normal phenomenon in tough times, people will drink better and less”.
The Vinexpo/IWSR study, conducted in 114 consumer markets and 28 producer countries, states total worldwide consumption in 2010 reached 2.6 billion cases (31.6 billion bottles) - a 4.5% increase compared to a previous study carried out in 2006.
The forecast for the next five years show a global consumption growth rate of 6.17%, reaching 2.844 billion cases, an increase of 2 billion bottles, by the end of 2015.
Have your say!
blowback
January 14 11:45
Why 9 litre bottles? Is this a "Cristal" thing? A hip-hop thing? I've been drinking wine solidly for the last 40 years and I can't recall ever being served from a 9 litre bottle but then I don't go to many nightclubs, although I have bought the odd case which is equivalent I suppose.
edna langridge
January 14 03:38
I thoroughly enjoyed a bottle of Great Wall white wine in Shanghai China in 1985. I fail to understand why people assume that other cultures are behind them. I felt sad even then that the Chinese seemed to want to copy western ways of materialism.
Guerreiro
January 12 09:44
This is quite some bombastic news! China found out massively that wine is something to be interested on? Chinese buy wine and rink it at home? Chinese drink wine in restaurants when going out? For cryin out loud, has any of these authours of such artiles been to China even? Have they ever see anyone drinking wine anywhere? Yes: wine is stepping in very slowly into some people's atention, who like to taste the feling of living like an European (as now economy is showing, in Europe we have as very good economic life and work very little), but I dare anyone to prove that these figures are consumption rather than sales. And sales exist because there are some Chinese entrepeneurs who think that wine is a so good investment as anything else and are buying and stocking wine waiting to sell it more expensive. Believe it or not, some specialists like from the Wine and Spirits review have sden this China's invisible wine market long ago, it's a matter of looking for it and be better informed!