The Spanish wine market in 2024 was characterized by a complex and dynamic landscape, balancing recovery and challenge. This is the conclusion of the Vinetur report 'The Wine Market in Spain: Analysis 2024 and Outlook 2025', published on April 15th. The most positive news from the report concerns wine consumption, which surprisingly rose by 2.5% in 2024, after appearing to be merely stabilizing late last year.
With an estimated total volume between 9.87 and 9.9m hl, Iberian per capita consumption now stands at around 20.5 liters (approx. 5.4 US gallons). The national industry association Interprofesional del Vino de España (OIVE) reported further consumption growth of 2% for January 2025, while consumption edged back down slightly in February by 0.2%.
Among domestic sales channels in 2024, the so-called "third channel" (direct sales, online retail, and specialist stores) notably showed a volume increase of 5%, whereas the hospitality sector recorded a decline of 1.9%.
Less export, more import
The country's wine exports, however, decreased by 5% in terms of volume, not least due to the small 2023 harvest. In contrast, the value of Spanish wine exports reached €2.98bn, an increase of 1.4% compared to 2023, reflecting the sector's strategy to increase added value. Consequently, the average export price also rose to €1.54/liter, a 6.7% increase year-over-year. Due to the low harvest volumes, however, import quantities increased significantly, especially in the low-price segment. Here, the first eleven months of 2024 saw a volume increase of 71%, for which the bulk wine trade was primarily responsible. This imbalance is forecast to be offset by the quantitatively good 2024 harvest. Thus, Spanish wine production rose from 28.45m hl in the 2023/24 crop year to a preliminary estimate of 31 to 32m hl for the 2024/25 crop year – growth mainly driven by white wine production, the volume of which increased by 20.5%, while the volume of red and rosé wines decreased by 1.8%.
Less area, more wineries
Fundamentally, smaller harvest volumes are expected in the future, as the total vineyard area has been declining for some time now. In July 2024, only 911,080 ha (approx. 2.25m ac) were used for viticulture, 1.9% less than the previous year. Organic viticulture, however, continued to gain ground. In 2023, it already accounted for 18% of Spain's vineyard area, now reaching 166,286 ha (approx. 410,900 ac), 10.9% more than the previous year. Despite the smaller area, the number of wineries has now increased for the second consecutive year. Thus, in January of last year, 3,925 companies were registered with winemaking as their primary business activity, 82 more than a year earlier. The Vinetur report also names the growth of the low- and no-alcohol segment, the preference for autochthonous grape varieties, and the revival of old vines as other key trends for 2025. SP
