In the 12 months to March 2024, Australian wine exports declined by 1 per cent in value to $1.88 billion[1] and 2 per cent in volume to 611 million litres. The average value of exports increased marginally by 0.4 per cent to $3.07 per litre free on board (FOB)[2].
Figure 1: Volume and value of Australian wine exports
The figures reflect a relatively stable export performance in recent times, as illustrated in Figure 1. Over the past 12 months, growth in some markets in Asia and Europe has been offset by a decline in exports to North America and, to a lesser extent, other destinations in Asia.
The largest drivers of value growth in the past 12 months were Hong Kong, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom (UK), while exports to Canada, the United States of America (US), Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia declined.
Mature wine markets, such as the US and Canada, are declining in overall wine consumption due to a combination of factors such as consumer focus on health and wellbeing, competition from other beverages, and the rising cost of living. In emerging markets, such as South Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia, export performance can be volatile as wine is a small, nascent category overall.
Although the UK is a mature market, Australian wine export performance has been positive in the past 12 months. This is likely being driven by consumers in the UK shifting purchasing from the on-premise to the off-premise, as they opt to drink at home to save money during the cost-of-living crisis. Australia has a 24 per cent share of all off-premise sales in the UK, and is the number one country of origin in the category, so benefits when consumers move towards this channel.
Packaging types
In the 12 months ended March 2024, exports of Australian unpackaged wine (shipped in bulk to be packaged in market) grew by 1 per cent in volume to 422 million litres (a 69 per cent volume share) and declined by 3 per cent in value to $471 million. The average value of unpackaged exports declined by 5 per cent to $1.12 per litre. Volume growth was driven by shipments to the UK, Canada, and Belgium, while some of this was offset by declines in unpackaged exports to the US, France, and Denmark.
Meanwhile, packaged exports declined by 8 per cent in volume to 189 million litres (a 31 per cent volume share) but remained stable in value at $1.41 billion. This was due to growth in the average value of packaged exports – up 8 per cent to $7.43 per litre. Packaged exports with an average value of $10 per litre and above grew by 7 per cent, while those below $10 per litre declined by 6 per cent in value – resulting in a higher average value of packaged exports overall. This growth at the higher end of the price spectrum was largely driven by Hong Kong, although mainland China, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and Japan also grew in this segment. The growth at the higher end is consistent with the global trend.
Wine style
In the 12 months to March 2024, Australian red wine exports declined by 2 per cent in volume to 315 million litres (a 52 per cent volume share) and by 1 per cent in value to $1.23 billion. The value of exports of red wine performed slightly better than volume because the average value of packaged red wine increased by 11 per cent – so even with a volume decline of 9 per cent (see Figure 2) – it increased in value. The volume decline in packaged red wine was primarily driven by exports to the UK and Canada, while the growth in unpackaged red wine (up by 2 per cent) was driven by the UK.
Figure 2: Change in the volume of exports by colour and packaging type
White wine exports declined by 1 per cent in volume to 279 million litres (a 46 per cent volume share) and by 1 per cent in value to $593 million. Seventy-two per cent of white wine exports are unpackaged and were stable during the year – mainly due to growth to the UK and Canada being outweighed by a decline to the US. Meanwhile, the decline in packaged white wine exports was also driven by the UK and Canada.
Destinations
In the 12 months to March 2024, Australian exporters shipped wine to 114 destinations, down from 118 in the previous year. Fifty of these grew in export value. Of the top 15 destinations by value, the UK, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Japan recorded value growth.
Asia is the largest region by value for Australian wine exports, with a 36 per cent value share. Strong growth in Northeast Asia (up by 29 per cent and driven by Hong Kong) was tempered by a decline in the value of exports to Southeast Asia (down 15 per cent and driven by Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia) during the period. In North America (27 per cent value share), both the US and Canada declined. Pleasingly, performance in Europe (29 per cent value share) is looking better than previous periods – with recovery in exports to the UK being counteracted by ongoing declines to other destinations in the region.
Figure 3: Export value by destination region in 2024
The vast majority of the growth in Northeast Asia’s value was driven by exports to Hong Kong, which increased by 60 per cent to $290 million, mainly in red wine above $10 per litre. Hong Kong is a major trading hub and therefore some of the wine may be on-shipped to other Asian markets. Exports to Japan also grew during the period – up 4 per cent in value to $48 million – mainly driven by exports valued between $2.50 and $4.99 per litre, but also above $10 per litre.
Mainland China experienced an uplift in the reporting period, growing 21 per cent to $13 million but this was off a low base. As the announcement by China’s Ministry of Commerce on the removal of the import duties imposed on Australian wine was made in late March, it has had little impact on the annual data in this report.
The top five markets by value were:
- UK (up 2 per cent to $367 million. 20 per cent share of total export value)
- US (down 7 per cent to $356 million. 19 per cent share of total export value)
- Hong Kong (up 60 per cent to $290 million. 15 per cent share of total export value)
- Canada (down 15 per cent to $147 million. 8 per cent share of total export value), and
- Singapore (down 11 per cent to $119 million. 6 per cent share of total export value).
The top five markets by volume were:
- UK (up 10 per cent to 228 million litres. 37 per cent share of total export volume)
- US (down 13 per cent to 127 million litres. 21 per cent share of total export volume)
- Canada (up 2 per cent to 74 million litres. 12 per cent share of total export volume)
- New Zealand (up 6 per cent to 30 million litres. 5 per cent share of total export volume), and
- Germany (down 5 per cent to 26 million litres. 4 per cent share of total export volume).
For further commentary on individual markets please go to the full Export Report. The Export Dashboard has also been updated with the latest data. The Grape Price Indicators dashboard has been updated with fresh export data, as well as freight rates, exchange rates, and consumer confidence figures for key markets.
1. Unless otherwise stated all values are given in Australian dollars.
2. All export wine values are the ‘Free on board' (FOB) value of the wine, where the point of valuation is where goods are placed on board the international carrier, at the border of the exporting country. The FOB value includes production and other costs up until placement on the international carrier but excludes international insurance and transport costs.