What and how much is the world drinking?

The answers to key questions on UK and world drinking trends, according to research commissioned by Vinexpo from IWSR into global trends in the wines and spirits sectors, are summarised below

What will we be drinking in 2011 and beyond?

• White wine is the nation’s favourite while Rosé is growing fast. White wine accounts for 44% of all still wine drunk. Consumption of Rosé has risen by nearly 100% over the last five years and still growing.
• Consumption of red wine went down by nearly 8% in the last five years and is forecast to decline further over the next four years
• Sparking wine of all kinds is becoming increasingly popular and consumption will rise by 12% over the next four years
• Vodka is Britain’s No 1 spirit. Consumption went up nearly 20% in the last five years and will grow by 6% over the next four years
• Scotch whisky declined by 10% in the last five years, but is expected to stabilise over the next four years. The UK is the third largest consumer of scotch whisky behind the US and France.
• Bourbon, Tequila and Rum (from much smaller bases) are showing growth. Bourbon is forecast to rise 22% by 2014, Tequila by 5% (it grew 33% over the last five years) and Rum by 12%.

How much are we drinking?

• Britain is the biggest importer of wine by volume and value in the world. In 2010 we will have imported 1.77 billion bottles of still and sparkling wine.
• But Britain is only the 10th largest consumer of wines per capita drinking 27.2 litres per head in 2010 and showing little change in the next five years

How much are we spending?

• Britain now spends more in total on still wine than the French
• Total sales of wine are expected to reach more than £8.6 billion at RSP in 2010 and to grow by 1% over the next four years
• But the average price per bottle shows little change. In fact prices fell slightly in 2010 to £5.23 per bottle
• Nonetheless, there is a trend to pay more per bottle and the British are now the second biggest purchasers – after the US – of wines costing more than £6 a bottle

Where does our wine come from?

• While Australia and France are the largest suppliers, they are losing share
• Catching them up are Italy, US, Spain, South Africa and Chile (placed 3rd to 7th)
• New Zealand, saw exports to Britain rise nearly 80% between 2005 and 2009

How much wine is produced worldwide?

• Average annual production between 2005 and 2009 was more than 3 billion 9 litre cases 36 billion bottles
• Half of world production comes from France, Italy and Spain
• Among the developing world, China will be in 7th place in 2010 where production of still wine is expected to grow by nearly 80% over the next four years

How much wine is the world drinking?

• Consumption is growing.  In 2009 31.5 billion bottles of still and sparkling wine were drunk worldwide
• Still wine accounted for more than 92% of all wine drunk in the world                 
• Consumption is expected to grow by 3% over the next four years. Most of that growth will take place in the US, China and Russia

Who is drinking most?

• In 2012 the US will overtake France and Italy (current leaders) as the world’s biggest consumer of wine

What wines is the world drinking?

• While it only accounts for 10% of world total, Rosé will show the biggest growth over the next four years.
• Consumption of red wine will grow at a slightly higher rate than white wine
• Sparkling wine will grow faster than still wine increasing by nearly 6% to 2014

How much is the world spending on wine?

• Turnover by value at rsp including local taxes will grow faster than volume continuing the trend set in the last five years.
• Sales topped US$183 billion (at constant 2009 prices)
• Between 2010 and 2014 turnover by value will grow twice as fast as volume
• Wines priced at more than US$10 a bottle are taking a larger slice of sales and will grow by more than 15% between 2008 and 2014

Who supplies the world’s wine?

• In 2009, one bottle in four in the world was imported
• Imports will continue to rise over the next four years
• Italy was the leading volume exporter with over 212 million cases in 2009, a rise of 31% in the last five years
• France is the leading exporter by value reaching more than US$7.6 billion in 2009

How much spirits is the world drinking?

• Consumption of spirits fell in 2010 but is forecast to pick up in the five years to 2014

How much is the world spending?

• Sales of spirits reached nearly US$205 billion in 2009, growth of nearly one third since 2005
• Sales of premium spirits are expected to continue an earlier growth trend with sales value rising by nearly 10% to 2014

Who is drinking most spirits?

• Asia accounts for 44% of all spirits consumed in 2009
• While consumption in Asia plateaud in 2010, it is expected to rise by nearly 5% in the run up to 2014

What is the world drinking?

• Most countries – 61% - drink their locally produced spirits
• In many cases locally produced rice-based spirits are being replaced by wine
• International brands – apart from gin – rose in 2010
• Vodka is by far the world’s leading spirit with global consumption of nearly 488 million 9-litre cases
• Rum showed a growth spurt of 16% in the five years to 2009 and is expected to grow 14% in the run up to 2014
• Scotch whisky grew nearly 3% and is expected to grow nearly 5% to 2014
• Grape brandies including cognac and armagnac grew from 2005 to 2009 and will continue to do so to 2014
• Tequila, from a small base,  grew more than 15% in the last five years.

1 January 2011 - Felicity Murray