In its annual analysis of the sector, the OIV highlights that world wine production was, last year, the lowest since 1961. Around 237 million hectoliters of wine were produced in the world, 10% less than the previous year , the result of difficulties related to extreme weather events and diseases in the vineyard.
Less wine, at a time when global consumption is falling again, is not bad at all, if it weren’t for the fact that Portugal, in a counter-cycle, increased its production by 9.8% to 7.5 million hectoliters. Surpluses continue to be a problem for national producers.
The president of the IVV states that the Portuguese authorities have tried to find “exceptional measures” with Brussels to help deal with surpluses, but recognizes that it has not been easy. On the one hand, because we are in a countercycle, “we are a little alone in this matter”. On the other hand, three crisis distillations have already been carried out in the last four years in Portugal, and as the European Commission “looks at crisis distillations as an intervention, which goes against the rules of the free market, it is not facilitating these types of measures again”.
What is the solution then? “There must be great support for promotion and greater aggressiveness on the part of the country in exploring new markets and new market segments that can absorb large volumes”, argues Bernardo Gouvêa.
The president of ViniPortugal agrees: “We need to invest more in promotion, we need to open new markets that value Portuguese wines and find ways to help national producers.”
Falling consumption
The truth is that the situation does not help. World consumption fell again: 2.6% compared to 2022, a year in which it had already been low, says the OIV. In total, 221 million hectoliters will have been consumed, six million less than in the previous year, as a result of inflationary pressures.
And, in Europe, Portugal was one of the countries where consumption fell the most: it went from 6.1 million to 5.5 million hectoliters, a drop of 9.2%, equivalent, in relative terms, to the loss of the Netherlands, also highlighted by the OIV, in terms of reduction in wine spending. The difference, says the OIV itself, is not only in terms of market size – the Netherlands went from 3.6 to 3.3 million hectoliters – but also in the reality of each person’s starting point. This is because, although the Portuguese loss was large in 2023, total consumption was still above the average of the last five years.
The drop in family income, due to the rise in inflation and interest rates, helps to understand a large part of this drop. “Sit in the distribution, a sign that the Portuguese wallet is in difficulty, and sit in the restaurants, although tourism is compensating there”, says Frederico Falcão.
And, for this reason, Portugal still maintains the title of world champion in per capita wine consumption, with an average of 61.7 liters per capita (compared to 67.5 liters in 2022), far from the 45.8 liters from France and 42.1 liters from Italy.
“Our per capita consumption, in reality, is not that. Tourism always counts towards this consumption, but there are two factors that bias the analysis: tourism in Portugal has a higher proportion of the population, compared to other countries – in 2023 we will have had 30 million guests -, and tourists in Portugal consumes much more wine than in other countries, because our prices are much cheaper”, explains the president of IVV, highlighting that the issue has already been addressed with INE and OIV. “We were unable to change the INE formula, but this does not express the per capita consumption of the Portuguese population and it is a problem because it gives a lot of arguments to the health lobby”, he highlights.
