Germany
Flexibility Demanded
- Vineyard area 2021 (ha): 103,421 (+0.23%)
- Winegrowing enterprises 2020: 15,151
- Production volume 2021 (mill. hl): 8,45 (+0,5%)
- Wine stock 2021 (mill. hl): 11,5 (-5,2%)
- Export volume 2021 (mill. hl): 1,21 (+27,2%)
- Export value 2021 (mill. €): 357 (+28,8%)
- Domestic consumption per capita (liters per year): 20,7
Overall, German producers have come through the pandemic very well. Their dependence on the domestic market played into their hands, as Germans traveled less in 2020 and 2021 than in previous years and demanded domestic wines in particular.
The bulk wine market proved very stable. Prices rose after the 2021 harvest, which some even see as a structural price adjustment. In recent months, however, the cards have been reshuffled. Scarce availability of primary products such as bottles, labels and cartons and, as a result, increased costs and inflation were already raising concerns for marketers even before the war in Ukraine. Supply availability will therefore become a major challenge for German producers and their distributors in 2022. Some regions also registered poor results in the 2021 harvest, particularly Baden, but also Württemberg. Here, wine could become scarce.
Clemens Gerke
Sources: Destatis, Association of German Wine Exporters, DWI
Austria
Steep Rise in Exports
- Vineyard area 2021 (ha): 44,913
- Winegrowing enterprises: 11,022
- Production volume 2021 (mill. hl): 2,45
- Export volume 2021 (mill l.): 70,2
- Export value 2021 (mill. €): 216,8
- Per capita domestic consumption (liters per year): 25,7
2021 was “a dream vintage for Austria” reports Austrian Wine Marketing (ÖWM) jubilantly. Healthy, ripe grapes found their way into the cellar after a "golden autumn". With a harvest volume of around 2.4 mill hl, the 2021 vintage is 3% above the average of the last five years and 3% above the 2020 harvest.
In the export business, the Alpine country also reported exceptionally good results. For the first time, the €200 million mark was exceeded, an increase of almost 16%. Exports have been on the rise for years, not only in terms of volume but also value. The average value of exports rose to 3.09 €/l, a top price by European standards. In 2006, export revenues were still around €80m, which means that they have almost tripled to date.
In Germany, the most important export market, the value rose by 9.6%. In second-place Switzerland, export revenues grew by 16.1%, and in the USA by as much as 23.1%; the United States thus overtook the Netherlands (+16.8%) and climbed to third place among Austria's most important export countries.
Alexandra Wrann
Source: ÖWM
