SPEAKING during a conference conducted online during the Covid-19 lockdown affecting many countries around the globe, Pau Roca of Spain, the director general of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) headquarted in Paris, announced that there had been a marked decrease in production in 2019 compared to 2018. The estimated volume of wine produced by all of the wine-producing countries combined was put at 260 million hectolitres, with the world’s vineyard plantings estimated at 7.4 million hectares, stable since 2016. Total production in 2019 was estimated to be 34mhl / 11% less than in 2018, however the international export market had expanded by 1.7% (105.8mhl) in volume and by nearly 1% (€31.8bn) in value.

According to the OIV, South Africa’s vineyard surface area remained stable relative to 2018 at 128kha (0.128 million hectares), and wine production in 2019 reached 9.7mhl. “This represents an increase of 3% with respect to the low volume registered in 2018, but it is still far from the average production levels recorded before the beginning of the drought that heavily impacted the country for three years in a row (2016, 2017 and 2018).”

Whereas wine exports are up for some countries including Italy, Spain, Canada and Chile, they are down for others including Australia and South Africa, whose figures are around a million hectolitres less than in the preceding year. “In 2019 the international trade of wine in terms of volume was mainly dominated by three European countries – Italy, Spain and France – that together exported 57.1mhl, accounting for 54% of the world market.” The top three importers were Germany, the UK and the USA, which together imported 38% of the world total.

Early estimates of the 2020 harvest in the Southern Hemisphere indicated relatively low volumes for the majority of countries, with the exception of South Africa and Uruguay. South Africa seems set to continue its recovery from the drought, the OIV reports, and the country is expected to realise a 5% increase in volume compared to 2018.

For more about ‘the situation of the vitivinicultural sector at a global level’, click here. For the 2019 highlights, click here.