France topped the ranking of the largest wine exporting countries in 2021, with foreign sales of 13.116 billion dollars, according to data from the World Trade Organization (WTO).

With this, France registered a year-on-year growth in this indicator of 31% and broke a record.

Other relevant exporters in 2021 were: Italy (8,413 million dollars, +16% year-on-year), Spain (3,481 million, +14%), Chile (1,968 million, +8%) and Australia (1,697 million, -20%).

In contrast, the United States ranked as the world’s largest wine importer, with purchases of $7,376 million in 2021.

The U.S. wine industry has experienced a rapid increase in the number of wineries being established across the country.

From 2009 to 2021, the number of U.S. wineries grew from 6,357 to 11,053, and is one of the fastest growing segments of agriculture.

U.S. wineries decreased their production in 2020, the most recent year for which this data is available, by 9.7% compared to 2019.

The total value of retail wine sales has increased there from $26.3 billion in 2000 to $66.8 billion in 2020.

Wine exporters

Among the world’s leading wine companies are: EJ Gallo, Constellation Brands, The Wine Group, Treasury Wine Estate, Viña Conch Y Toro, Castel Frères, Accolade Wines, Pernod Ricard SA, Grupo Penaflor and Fecovita Co-op.

In general, the wine industry and alcohol markets are intensely competitive.

The end consumer has many product choices from both domestic and international producers.

The value of direct-to-consumer wine shipments in the U.S. grew 14.9% in 2020.

Since 2015, total U.S. wine consumption has grown 46 percent.

About 1 billion gallons of wine were consumed in the U.S. market in 2020, up from 687 million gallons in 2005.

The United States ($1.454 billion, +10% y/y) was also a leading exporter in 2021, followed by New Zealand ($1.369 billion, +5%), Germany ($1.175 billion, +12%), Portugal ($1.097 billion, +12%) and Argentina ($853 million, +10 percent).