The numbers are in, and they make for grim reading. The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) has confirmed that global wine production fell to 225.8 million hectolitres in 2024, a 4.8% decline from the previous year and the lowest volume recorded since 1961, when the world produced just 219 million hectolitres. This marks three consecutive years of below-average output — a run that is testing the resilience of an industry already grappling with structural demand decline.
France Bears the Brunt
No major producer was hit harder than France, where output collapsed 23.5% year-on-year to just 36.1 million hectolitres — the country's lowest figure since 1957. The culprit was the wettest spring in over a decade, which unleashed virulent downy mildew across nearly every major appellation. Burgundy saw its harvest fall 35%, while Champagne lost a third of its crop to a devastating combination of spring frosts, mildew, hail, and scorching summer heat. The result: Italy, at 44.1 million hectolitres, has overtaken France as the world's largest wine producer.
A Hemispheric Problem
The damage was not confined to Europe. Chile's production dropped 15% to 9.3 million hectolitres, now sitting 21% below its five-year average. South Africa fell 5%, and despite a modest recovery, Australia remains 16% below its baseline — still carrying the scars of drought and bushfire seasons past. Argentina, which endured a catastrophic 2023 vintage decimated by frost and hail, managed a partial rebound but remains well below historical norms.
As OIV Director General John Barker put it with characteristic understatement: "We can attribute the major part of this volatility to significant and unpredictable weather events affecting both hemispheres — that is, to climate change."
The Paradox of Surplus and Scarcity
Here is the cruel irony at the heart of this crisis. Even as global volumes hit six-decade lows, parts of France are actively paying growers to rip out vines. The French government has committed €120 million to subsidise the removal of up to 30,000 hectares in Bordeaux alone, with Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard announcing a further €130 million for a permanent nationwide grubbing-up scheme. The European Parliament, meanwhile, approved landmark legislation allowing EU wine funds to finance crisis distillation and vineyard removal for the first time.
The explanation is structural: climate losses are devastating premium appellations — Burgundy, Champagne, parts of the Rhône — while lower-value regions remain locked in chronic oversupply. France simultaneously secured €200 million in EU support for distilling unsold wine into industrial alcohol. Production crisis and surplus crisis, existing side by side.
Demand Offers No Comfort
If producers hoped the market might absorb reduced supply at higher prices, the consumption data dispels that notion. Global wine consumption also fell to its lowest point since 1961, dropping 3.3% to 214.2 million hectolitres. The decline is broad-based: the United States down 6%, France down 4%, China cratering 19.3%. Health-conscious moderation movements, inflation, and fierce competition from spirits and craft beer are eroding wine's consumer base in ways that feel increasingly permanent.
Global wine trade volumes did tick up 1.4% to 9.96 billion litres, but revenue was essentially flat at $40.66 billion. The average export price per litre slipped 1.6% to $4.08 — suggesting that what trade growth exists is being driven by volume, not value.
The industry now faces a 2025 vintage under the additional shadow of US tariffs on European wines, initially set at a punishing 200%. For an industry already navigating climate chaos and demand erosion, the timing could scarcely be worse. The 60-year low may prove to be not an aberration, but the beginning of a new and uncomfortable normal.
