The world is drinking less wine than ever. Spain is the exception

The world is drinking less wine than ever. Or at least, less than ever in the last six decades. In 2024, consumption fell for the third consecutive year to the minimum of the early sixties, according to the data of the International Wine Organization cited by Chain ser.

Only one country goes in the opposite direction: Spain.

Why is it important. This change in the trend of consumption is a threat to a key sector of many economies, including Spanish.

Spain is the second country in the world on the surface of vineyards and the third in production. It is a employment generator, exports, and in part, of Spanish cultural identity.

In figures. In 2024 …

• Global consumption stayed at 214 million hectoliters. Minimum figure since 1961.
• Spain remained in a consumption of about 10 million hectoliters, which in fact is very close to being its postpandemics record.
• That meant a 1.2% increase in consumption compared to 2023.

In context. It is not that there are many people renouncing the wine, but that they drink less frequently and more selectively. There are more consumers, but with other patterns: it is drunk with greater moderation, the Alcohol without alcoholand there is greater social pressure to avoid excess.

In addition, young people do not have the habit that their parents or grandparents did more frequently: accompanying meals with wine daily.

Between the lines. Wine is less and less everyday to become something more linked to a whim. Less volume, more premium. In that line, global consumption has fallen, but not the interest in wines of a certain category.

In fact, in Spain the food channel has risen in value (+2.7%) although it falls in volume (-0.5%).

And now what. The wine industry, which You already have your own problems in Spainhas a dilemma: either adapt to the new consumer or continue losing presence in the face of new habits. The young audience, which drinks differently and in less quantity, is the key.

The classic model, based on volume, tradition and hospitality, is not enough. Spain, who continues to drink, can mark the way.

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