Global wine production hits a standstill, warns trade body

Bad weather means global wine production this year will remain near a 60-year low according to preliminary estimates, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) said Monday.

"Early indications suggest that 2024 will be another year of relatively low production, most likely below 250 million hectolitres a year," Director General John Barker said at the opening of the body's 45th congress in the French city of Dijon.

Last year some 237 million hectolitres of wine were produced across the world, the lowest amount since 1961, as the various effects of climate change such as drought, heatwaves and flooding affected grape harvests.

The preliminary forecast is based on figures from major producing nations that account for around three-quarters of global production, said the OIV's head of statistics Giorgio Delgrosso.

Big winemaking nations like Spain, Italy, Australia and Argentina have improved from their poor 2023 performances but remain far from their average output, he said.

But France and Chile fared even worse in 2024, he added.

Updated figures are expected in late November.

Barker said that it was normal for annual wine production to fluctuate but that in the past 30 years it had remained relatively consistent within a range of 250 and 300 million hectolitres.

"A key factor is the geographical spread of wine production over those years has helped balance risks on a global level," he told the congress.

"It's significant therefore that in 2023 global production took a step below the bottom of that range," he added.

Climate change, along with changing consumption trends, are the main subjects on the agenda of the meeting.