Market insights – Australia
The Australian domestic market accounts for approximately 500 million litres of Australian wine per year or 40 per cent of Australian wine production – making it by far our largest individual wine market. Go straight to report listing
The Australian domestic market: our biggest customer
White wine is the largest category with 45 per cent of domestic sales, followed by red with 40 per cent and sparkling with 11 per cent. The share of red wine has been growing in recent years.
Australian wine dominates the local market, with imported wine from all sources having less than a 20 per cent share. Australia imports around 95 million litres of wine per year, of which two-thirds comes from New Zealand.
There are positive signs in the Australian domestic market after a long period of flat sales. Australian wine consumption increased to 29.6 litres per annum in 2016 after five years in decline, according to the International Wine and Spirit Record (IWSR), and the IWSR forecasts that wine sales will continue to grow slowly over the next five years. There is also a trend towards drinking higher priced wine, with sales above $10 per bottle (off-trade) increasing in 2017 while sales below $10 per bottle declined.
Wine Intelligence has forecast that there will be continued strong growth in lighter style red wines, the rosé category and sparkling wines over the next few years. Australian wine consumers are also increasingly looking for diversity in wine offerings and becoming familiar with alternative varieties. However, strong competition exists in the market from both imported wines and other alcohol products including craft beer and cider.
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Reports listing
: Restricted to levy payers and wine exporters. Some reports are available for purchase - find out more
Australia off-trade market report
Latest update: 02 May 2023A quarterly report on the latest data on the Australian off-premise liquor market. Includes volume and value for the key liquor categories: beer, wine, spirits and RTDs.
View moreAustralian Wine Imports Monitor
Latest update: 24 Mar 2023High level summaries of wine imported into Australia presented in an infographic format. Includes volume and value of imports by colour and container type and by the top ten source countries, plus year-on-year trends over the past 10 financial years.
View moreAustralian market insights report
Latest update: 30 Mar 2022Australian wine businesses who sell wine on the domestic market can get valuable information from Wine Australia’s Australia Market Insights Report. The report provides a market overview and channel analysis, and discusses sales trends, consumer insights and advantages and disadvantages of the market in a global context.
View moreWine channel purchase behaviour of Australian wine
Latest update: 27 Jan 2022The Wine Channel Purchase Behaviour of Australian Wine Consumers report provides insights into how consumers choose between wine-buying channels, what barriers exist for each channel and how wine-buying behaviour has been influenced by Covid-19 and associated restrictions.
View moreWine direct-to-consumer survey report
Latest update: 07 Oct 2021In Australia, the value of Direct-to-consumer sales is increasingly being recognised by wine businesses. The Cellar Door and Direct-to-consumer survey aims to collect data on DTC and produce a series of key benchmarks and statistics to assist wineries develop their wine tourism and DTC activities.
View moreAustralian Wine Tourism Snapshot
Latest update: 28 Jan 2021The Australian Wine Tourism Snapshot is a one-page overview of wine tourism in Australia. It provides the latest summary statistics based on tourists that included visiting a winery (as an activity) during their trip.
View moreHow to turbo-charge growth in a world post-lockdown
Latest update: 08 Dec 2020Our brains operate somewhere between reason and random, and the field of behavioural science can help us understand why.
View moreWebinar - Winning with Direct-to-Consumer sales: two-part webinar series
Latest update: 14 Oct 2020Experienced international DTC specialist Georgia Rasmussen introduces eight core principles for wineries to help grow DTC sales opportunities. Georgia shares her valuable tips and practical resources in this two-part webinar series. Also hear from guest wineries about their own DTC journey.
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Webinar - Consumer wine consumption behaviour during and post COVID-19 in Europe
Latest update: 13 Jul 2020Presentation by Wine Intelligence detailing how wine consumers in Australia, the USA and the UK have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic before and during lockdown, and how they anticipate their behaviour will change after the removal of restrictive measures.
View moreConsumer wine consumption behaviour during and post COVID-19 in Australia, UK and the USA
Latest update: 21 May 2020Presentation by Wine Intelligence detailing how wine consumers in Australia, the USA and the UK have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic before and during lockdown, and how they anticipate their behaviour will change after the removal of restrictive measures.
View moreInsights on the Australian wine market and global consumer trends in retail
Latest update: 08 Oct 2018Two presentations from leading research organisations IRI Worldwide and Wine Intelligence, conducted at a workshop for Wine Australia in October 2017.
View moreFurther reading
