Cheers & Gan Bei: US Consumers Drank 3.7 Billion Bottles of Wine Last Year, Now Are World’s Biggest Wine Drinkers, China Displaces UK in Top Five
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on January 15, 2012
The United States is now the world's top consumer of wines | Photo credit: Julie Gentry, PublicDomainPictures.net
Wine Bottles – Wide View by Julie Gentry
According to a new report, US consumers drank the equivalent of 3.7 billion bottles of wine this past year, making it the world’s Number 1 consumer of wine.
While China surpassed the United Kingdom for bottles of wine consumed, the British still drink more wine per capita than do Chinese consumers.
Former US Speaker of the House and congressional multi-millionaire Nancy Pelosi did her fair share to boost America’s wine consumption (as well as its overall hard alcohol consumption on her former, taxpayer-funded private jet) numbers. She’s the owner of Zinfandel Lane Vineyard and Skellenger Lane Vineyard, two $25 million Napa Valley vineyards that sell grapes to California wine producers.
From Sydney Morning Herald: Bottoms up: US biggest wine drinkers:
Bordeaux, France – US consumers were the world’s top wine drinkers in 2011, while China displaced Britain to become the fifth largest wine consumer, according to new research released on Thursday.
US consumers downed the equivalent of 3.7 billion bottles of wine, while China including Hong Kong drank 1.9 billion bottles, according to data released by trade show Vinexpo and International Wine and Spirit Research (IWSR).
Old World wine drinkers in Italy, France and Germany clung to second, third and fourth places respectively but the New World and the Far East caught the limelight, showed the study of 114 consumer markets and 28 producer countries.
“China is fascinating certainly,” said Robert Beynat, CEO of Vinexpo, whose upcoming show in Hong Kong is sold out. “But don’t forget about America. America is and will remain the main market in the world in terms of value and volume.”
The IWSR study predicts US wine consumption to grow 10 per cent between 2011 and 2015. During the same period, it forecasts growth of 54.3 per cent for the combined China-Hong Kong market.
In both markets, per capita consumption is also on the rise. By 2015, US consumers are expected to be drinking 13 litres per adult per year, while in China they should be drinking an average of 1.9 to 2.0 litres per adult.
From Malaysia Insider, China outdrinks UK when it comes to wine:
China has overtaken the UK to become one of the top five wine-consuming nations in the world, according to new figures released by Vinexpo.
In 2011, consumers in China and Hong Kong tipped back a total of 157 million 9L cases of wine, knocking the UK into sixth position, reported industry magazine Decanter this week.
But while consumption is expected to drop off in the UK, Brits still drink more wine per capita than Chinese consumers. Over the next five years, per capita consumption in the UK is forecast to drop from 26L a year to 24, Decanter reports.
In China, consumption is expected to rise over the same period from 1.9 to 2L.
That compares to a 50L per capita average by 2015 in traditional wine countries like France and Italy.
And in the US, that number is expected to average 13L per adult by the same date.
There’s also been a shift at the top when it comes to wine volume, as the US has displaced France and Italy (in second and third, respectively) to become the world’s biggest wine-consuming nation. Germany is in fourth place.
From AFP, US is biggest wine consumer, China joins top five:
Europe currently accounts for 62 percent of world wine consumption, but that figure is likely to drop, with [International Wine and Spirit Research ] IWSR predicting tepid growth of 0.4 percent from 2011 to 2015.
In key European markets, French, Italian and British per capita consumption is set to fall, by 4.4 percent, 2.7 percent, and 4.3 percent respectively. Germany is the European exception, with a forecast rise of 2.1 percent.
Global wine consumption is predicted to grow 6.2 percent between 2010 and 2015, reaching 34.1 billion bottles, an increase of two billion bottles.
And tipplers are trading up.
Between 2006 to 2010, wine retailing for $10 (eight euros) or more per bottle grew 14.7 percent, while the $5 to $10 range grew 10.7 percent and low-priced wines retailing for less than $5 grew at a weak 0.95 percent.
“Globally speaking, the world is — on average — drinking more and better,” said Beynat.
In wine exports, the French are holding their lead in terms of value, with exports worth $8.4 billion (6.6 billion euros) in 2010, up 1.9 percent from 2006.
About the author
Comments