Wine imports into Japan decreased in value in 2024 but increased in volume. This is the conclusion of the 2024 country report from the Spanish Wine Market Observatory (OeMv). According to figures released on April 30, 2025, wine imports into the Land of the Rising Sun increased by 2.2% in volume but fell by 8% in value.
Looking at individual categories, a gradual "normalization" of the Japanese wine market can be observed overall, a market previously characterized by a strong position in the ultra-premium and luxury segment. In particular, bulk wine volumes rose to 34.15m liters (+7.4%), with a simultaneous increase in value to €34.6m (+5.3 The bottled wine category, which includes sparkling wines, bottled wines under 2 liters, and Bag-in-Boxes (BiB), remained significantly more important in Japan. This category grew by 2.2% in volume to 204.9m liters but saw its value decrease by 8% to €1.48bn in 2024. The average price per liter for bottled wine fell sharply by 9.9% to €7.24, while the price for bulk wine now stands at €1.01/liter (down 2%).
BiB gains ground while other categories lose out
Regarding the individual bottled wine categories, two types primarily account for the recent trends. The main driver of volume growth was Bag-in-Boxes, which gained 16.3% year-over-year (and also increased by 8.3% in value). Revenue losses were primarily driven by sparkling wines, which recorded a sharp 12.6% drop in value despite stable volume, while still bottled wine decreased by ‘only’ 4.8%. Japanese sparkling wine imports have now fallen back below 2019 levels in terms of both volume and value, but remain significantly above the figures for 2018 and 2017.
Regarding supplier countries, France still ranks first by a wide margin in terms of revenue, even though it lost ground in 2024 with an 11% decrease. Italy, in second place (-0.7%), followed by Chile and Spain, achieved €195.7m, not even a quarter of the value of its French competitor (€872.6m). Volume-wise, Chile (+1.6%) increased its lead over France (-5.8%) at the top, although it has lost some ground in the long-term view. In contrast, it is noticeable that all four follower countries (Spain +10.3%, Italy +8.1%, Australia +5.5%, USA +14.8%) posted significant gains in 2024. This stands in stark contrast to Germany, ranking 7th in both volume and value, which lost 8.9% in volume and, at just 2.97m liters, fell below the 3m liter mark for the first time since 2018. With €15.7m in revenue (-13.2%), German wine exports to Japan also lost significantly in value terms.
There was a significant setback in the export of German still bottled wines (down 16.4% in value, down 15.3% in volume) as well as Bag-in-Boxes (down 23.9% each). The performance of German Sekt provided a bright spot, with a year-over-year volume increase of 21% and a value increase of 2.7%, comparing favorably to average annual growth rates since 2017 of 7.5% in volume and 5% in revenue. Sparkling wine and BiB from Germany thus moved counter to the prevailing market trend there. The value of exported bulk wines from Germany also saw a significant increase in 2024, up 52.4%, albeit from a very low volume level. SP
