Europe is the largest region for Australian wine exports by volume, with a 45 per cent share of total exports.
As a delegation of Australian wineries heads over to Stockholm and Amsterdam for trade tastings and master classes, this Market Bulletin aims to give an overview of this important region and the latest trends and opportunities within the Swedish, Dutch, and Belgian markets.
The United Kingdom (UK) is the largest destination for wine exports within Europe (receiving 71 per cent of volume), noting that some of the exports to the UK end up in other European markets.
It’s difficult to separate export trends to different European destinations because of two main reasons. Firstly, bottling facilities are available in many key destinations and unpackaged export volume can vary widely from year to year depending on where wine is being bottled. Secondly, there is a significant amount of transhipment between markets.
Declining wine consumption and supply chain disruptions impact on exports to Europe
As a region, the volume of all wine consumed in Europe has fallen by an average of 3 per cent per annum over the last five years, while value has grown by 1 per cent per annum[1].
The largest decline in wine consumption has been in Italy and France, which are not typically key export markets for Australian wine due to their large domestic production. Declining consumption in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands have had a much bigger impact on Australian wine’s performance. Consumption of Australian wine has declined in volume by an average of 2 per cent per annum (slightly better than the total market) and has been flat in value.
Australian wine exports to Europe (excluding the UK) declined by 9 per cent in the 12 months to June 2025 to $161 million. This is largely consistent with the long-term trend. Export value has declined by 7 per cent per annum over the past five years (see Figure 1).
Germany and the Netherlands are the main drivers of this decline. This is mostly due to a decrease in unpackaged wine exports, driven both by exporters no longer shipping to the region, and those switching where they are bottling. Unpackaged wine exports to Sweden, Belgium, and Denmark have increased over the period, but not enough to offset the decline overall.
Figure 1: Value of wine exports to Europe (exc. UK)
Besides the decline in wine consumption, there are a number of headwinds that currently make it difficult for Australian wineries to profitably sell their wine in the European market. For instance, due to regional conflicts and supply chain disturbances, freight rates per 20ft container to Europe are now at the same level as they were during the 2022 shipping crisis (see Figure 2). This is not the case for other regions (North America/Asia) and makes it relatively more expensive and difficult to get wines into the European market.
Figure 2: Freight rates from Australia
Source: Hillebrand Gori, via the Grape Price Indicators Dashboard
Higher price points, lighter styles and new packaging trends drive the Swedish market
Over the past five years the Swedish wine market has been flat in volume and growing by 3 per cent per annum in value, according to IWSR. The growth segments in the market are wines above 115 SEK per bottle (up 2 per cent in volume per annum), sparkling wines (up 4 per cent), rosé wines (up 2 per cent), and white wines (up 1 per cent). White wines have increased from a 34 per cent volume share in 2010 to a 39 per cent share in 2024, while rosé has increased from 7 to 10 per cent, at the expense of red wines (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: Share of still wine consumption volume in Sweden by colour
Source: IWSR
According to Wine Australia’s Sweden Sales Trends Report 2024, data from Systembolaget (the Swedish alcohol monopoly) indicates similar trends, with Australian rosé and sparkling wines growing strongly from a small base during 2024.
In the year ended June 2025, Australian wine exports to Sweden increased by 15 per cent in volume to 6.9 million litres, the highest volume since 2012, and increased by 2 per cent in value to $22 million. Driving the increase in volume was unpackaged wine, which increased by 31 per cent in volume. According to Systembolaget, 71 per cent of Australian wine sales are in bag-in-box (cask), and most of these sales would be packaged in Europe rather than Australia.
However, exports valued over $5 per litre FOB also increased, by 11 per cent in volume. Red, white, and sparkling wines in this price segment increased in shipments.
Other growth segments for Australia include alternative forms of packaging (see Figure 4). PET bottles are slowly gaining share from glass bottles in the market, while wines in cans and pouches are also growing off small bases.
Figure 4: Australian wine sales in Sweden by container type
Source: Systembolaget
Rosé takes the prize in Netherlands and Belgium
The Netherlands and Belgium are the fifth and sixth largest export markets by value in Europe for Australian wine. Wine consumption has fallen in these two markets due to increasing cost of living and moderation trends. Even premium segments are showing very little growth as some consumers trade down to stay in the category. While the number of wine drinkers is declining – younger wine drinkers, especially in the Netherlands, are becoming more engaged with the category, according to IWSR.
White and rosé wines are declining at slower paces than red wine in both markets, and sparkling wine is one of the few categories showing growth, especially in the Netherlands where sparkling wine consumption has grown by 6 per cent per annum over the last five years.
Both markets have a very high share of rosé consumption, compared to other European markets. In 2024, 14 per cent of still wine sales in the Netherlands were rosé, while the share was 20 per cent in Belgium[2]. This share is second only to France in Europe and makes Belgium the seventh largest rosé market in Europe (but the 14th largest still wine market overall).
Figure 5: Share of still wine consumption volume by colour
Source: IWSR, note markets ranked by volume of rosé consumption from left to right.
Australian wine exports to the Netherlands declined by 25 per cent in value to $19 million and 23 per cent in volume to 5.8 million litres, the lowest volume since the early 2000’s. The decline in exports to the Netherlands in the last 12 months was primarily driven by packaged wine in the $2.50 to $4.99 per litre segment. Exports to Belgium declined by 3 per cent in value to $17 million and 21 per cent in volume to 9.2 million litres. The decline was driven by a decline in unpackaged wine exports, while premium (above $5 per litre) packaged exports increased by 25 per cent in volume. This growth was driven by both red and white still wine.