"After three exceptional years, Champagne is returning to sales levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic," the association Comité Champagne confirmed. In 2019, 297.3m bottles were sold, before sales plummeted by 18% in the pandemic year 2020. This was followed by a massive 33% increase over two years, reaching a peak of 325m bottles in 2022.
In 2023, France recorded a decline of 8%, resulting in 127 million bottles sold. The market suffered more from inflation than export markets, which burdened consumers throughout the year, explained the Comité.
Export shares grow
Exports were also down by 8.2%, but at 172 million bottles, they were still well above the 2019 level of 156 million. Exports now account for over 57% of total sales, compared to 45% a decade ago. Stockpiling by traders in 2022, fearing shortages, only partially explains this decline in exports.
Maxime Toubart, President of the Syndicat Général des Vignerons and Co-President of the Comité Champagne, is pleased: "This is a return to normality. Champagne is a designation of origin, produced in a strictly defined area and subject to strict rules. This does not allow for permanent volume growth."
Despite the decline in sales, demand for higher-quality cuvées, especially in exports, is increasing. This has enabled Champagne producers and houses to maintain global revenue above €6bn. "The decline in sales was expected," says David Chatillon, President of the Union des Maisons de Champagne and Co-President of the Comité, "but with stable revenue, Champagne looks to the future with optimism, despite the geopolitical context and global economic developments.”
Comité Champagne, founded in 1941, is the cross-professional umbrella organization representing the interests of all 16,000 Champagne winegrowers and 340 Champagne houses. ITP
