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Australian wine’s competitors and where they are exporting to

Market Bulletin | Issue 251
02 Nov 2021
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Australia exports around 60 per cent of the wine it produces hence it is critical to understand who its key competitor countries are, what they produce and where they export to. This can help discover potential market opportunities and gaps for Australian wine.

To assist Australian wine producers to better understand the competitor landscape, Wine Australia has prepared a new report called Global Wine Production Competitor Analysis. It is a high-level overview of the main wine producing countries in the world: Italy, France, Spain, United States of America (US), Argentina, Chile and South Africa. It pulls together information from various data sources to summarise the profile of these countries as wine producers and exporters, and how they are positioned relative to Australia in key export markets.

Over the past decade, global wine production varied between 24.8 and 29.4 billion litres. In 2021, wine production was estimated to be 25 billion litres. Australia’s share over the period hovered between 4 and 6 per cent and generally it ranks as either the fifth or sixth largest wine producer. By far the biggest wine producers are Italy, France and Spain. Combined, they account for 46 to 52 per cent of global production, depending on the year.

Changes in production in each of these three countries has a significant influence on global supply. For example, wine production for each country increased by around 1.2 billion litres in 2018, which to put in context, is how much Australia produces in an average year.

Volume of wine exported by country

Source: Global Trade Atlas

In the 12 months ended June 2021, 10.7 billion litres of wine was exported globally. This equated to about 40 per cent of global wine production. The focus on export markets varies significantly by producing country.

The top three exporters by volume are Spain, Italy and France, with a 54 per cent share in the latest year, slightly more than their combined share of production. There are differences in their export proportions with Spain generally exporting around 50 per cent of production, Italy with 40 per cent and France just over 30 per cent.

The US and Argentina are far less focused on exporting than the other major producers. The US exports on average exports about 15 per cent of its production and Argentina just over a quarter.

Within Australia’s major export markets, Italy has its biggest volume share of imports in Germany, the US, Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom (UK). It generally has lower market shares in the Asian markets. In contrast, France’s largest share of imports are in Asia – Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan.

Spain’s largest volume share among Australia’s key markets is in Germany, followed by South Korea, Japan and Denmark.

The US’s biggest share of imports is in neighbouring Canada. South Korea is the only other destination where it has a double-digit share.

Asia is where Chile is most dominant, with its biggest shares in Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia.

Argentina’s share of imports in Australia’s major markets is generally at five per cent or lower, with its largest share in Canada at eight per cent.

Similar to Argentina, South Africa does not have a double-digit volume share in any of Australia’s major destinations. South Africa's largest share is in New Zealand at 8 per cent where Australia holds sway with a 66 per cent share.

To discover more insights into each of the competitor producers, download the report here.


This content is restricted to wine exporters and levy-payers. Some reports are available for purchase to non-levy payers/exporters.

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This content is restricted to wine exporters and levy-payers. Some reports are available for purchase to non-levy payers/exporters.