Wine consumption declining in 2024

Wines from the German regions were somewhat more affected by this development, with sales down five per cent and turnover down six per cent. DWI Managing Director Monika Reule sees the reasons for this in particular in demographic change, in the changing consumption habits of consumers and in the more cost-conscious purchasing behaviour of Germans due to the economic situation.
„Last year, four per cent fewer households bought wine and paid particular attention to the price, explained Reule. Due to increased price sensitivity, the average prices of both German and foreign wines fell slightly by four cents per litre for the first time since 2010. However, because international wines were still slightly cheaper on average at 3.72 euros per litre than those from Germany, which cost an average of 4.47 euros per litre, demand for wines from abroad was somewhat stronger, according to Reule.

As a result, the market share of domestic wines fell by one percentage point year-on-year to 41 per cent in terms of sales and 45 per cent in terms of turnover. Of the foreign origins, Italian wines had the highest market share in terms of volume with an unchanged 18 per cent, followed by wines from Spain with 14 per cent (- 1 percentage point) and French wines with 11 per cent (+ 1 percentage point).

One glass less

If the wine consumption balance sheet also takes into account the amount of wine consumed outside the home in addition to wine purchases, Germans over the age of 16 drank 22.2 litres of wine per capita in the last wine year. This was 0.3 litres less than in the same period of the previous year. In the case of sparkling wines, consumption in this age group fell by 0.2 litres to 3.6 litres per capita per year.

The current wine consumption balance refers to the two-month period from 1 August 2023 to 31 July 2024 and therefore does not cover the entire calendar year 2024. It covers the total German market volume of 15.9 million hectolitres of wine and 2.6 million hectolitres of sparkling wine.