The Australian market is the ninth-largest and eighth-most attractive wine market in the world, according to the IWSR1. It is the Australian wine industry’s largest single market, accounting for 40 per cent of total sales, and also our most accessible – with (needless to say) no tariffs, no freight costs and no language barriers. While the Australian wine market has not been immune to the declines affecting mature wine markets globally, it has proved comparatively resilient. Beneath the headline decline, the data reveals a number of positive growth stories across specific wine styles, price segments and regions.
Overall decline is relatively small
According to the IWSR, global wine consumption declined by around 900 million litres in 2025, with Brazil the only one of the top 20 wine markets to record growth. Against this backdrop, Australia's decline of 3 per cent, equivalent to just under 13 million litres, was comparatively modest. (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Change in wine consumption for top 20 global wine markets in 2025 (Source: IWSR)
In the Australian retail off-trade market, wine sales declined by 1 per cent in volume in the year ended June 2026, while the overall retail alcohol market declined by 2.5 per cent2. Beer was the main driver of the decline in both volume and percentage terms, while wine declined the least in percentage terms and by a similar amount in absolute volume terms to spirits and RTDs. Cider continued its long-term decline from a smaller base (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Change in retail alcohol sales by category in the year to June 2026 (Source: Circana)
Sales trends reflect changing preferences by winestyle and variety
The categories driving the decline in wine sales volume were still red bottled (down 4 per cent), Champagne (down 3 per cent) and still red cask wine (down 9 per cent). Fortified, sparkling rosé and canned wine of all colours also declined but from smaller bases.
The categories in growth were still and sparkling white bottled (both up 1 per cent), still rosé bottled (up 6 per cent) and still white cask (up 2 per cent).
Retail sales data points to changing consumer preferences across wine styles and varieties, with growth in several white, rose and lighter red categories despite the overall decline.
Figure 3 illustrates the performance of the top 10 varieties sold in the Australian retail off-trade market over the past 12 months. While sales declined for four of the top five varieties by volume, four of the second five recorded growth, reflecting increased demand for less dominant white varieties and lighter styles of red wine.
Figure 3: Change in volume by variety (off-trade retail sales) in YE June 2026 (Source: Circana)
Decline is concentrated in a single price segment
While overall retail wine sales volume declined by 1 per cent in the year ended June 2026, performance varied considerably across price segments. The decline was largely concentrated in the $6 to $9.99 per bottle segment, which recorded a 9 per cent fall in volume, while most other price tiers remained relatively stable (Figure 4). Sales in the lowest-priced segment increased, partially offsetting the decline. This suggests the softening in demand was not broad-based across the category, but concentrated within a specific segment of the market.
While it is not possible to determine consumer motivations with certainty, the data indicates that some consumers who previously purchased wines in the $6 to $9.99 price range may have traded down to lower-priced alternatives or exited the wine category altogether. There is little evidence to suggest a significant migration into higher-priced segments, nor a widespread decline across all price points. This result is more significant given the increased share of white varieties in the sales figures, which have a lower overall average value (still bottled wine average is $14.58 per litre compared with $18.18 per litre for still bottled red3) and therefore might be expected to have resulted in a shift in sales into the lower price segments.
While inflation has affected many products, the year-on-year inflation in wine prices was just 1 per cent in the year to March 2026, according to the ABS4.
Figure 4: Change in volume by price segment (off-trade retail sales) in YE June 2026 (Source: Circana)
Premium regions outperform while SEA wines decline
Regional identity of the wine is another attribute where differences are emerging between categories. Looking at the performance of the largest Geographic Indication (GI) designations in the Australian off-trade market, most regional categories recorded modest growth in both volume and market share over the past 12 months. In contrast, the overall market decline was concentrated almost entirely in wines labelled as South-Eastern Australia (SEA), the largest category by volume and one that generally occupies lower-priced segments of the market. Several premium regional categories delivered strong growth, with Riverina increasing by 15 per cent, King Valley by 12 per cent and Yarra Valley by 9 per cent. South Australia recorded the largest increase in absolute sales volume. These results suggest consumers are increasingly favouring wines with a clear regional identity and provenance, while demand for broader multi-regional offerings has come under greater pressure. (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Change in volume by GI designation (off-trade retail sales) in YE June 2026 (Source: Circana)
For a deeper dive into the trends shaping Australia’s domestic wine market, join the Wine Australia Global Market Update on 14 August. The session will explore the consumer behaviours driving recent sales trends, provide an update on performance of wine in the on-premise channel and examine the opportunities presented by the emerging mid-strength category.
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2Circana July 2026
3Circana YE June 2026
4The Australian Consumer Price Index for all groups, all alcohol and wine can be found on Wine Australia’s Grape Price Indicators Dashboard