Since wine exports are booming so is wine import. Over the period 1995 to 2010 it has increased from 48 million hl to almost the double: 87 Mhl. The wine buyers have been even more dominantly Old World: today 70% of wine imports are to European countries (including intra-Europe), down though from 83% in 1995.
Here are the top 14 countries:
- Germany: 14.2 Mhl (trend ‘05-‘10: +)
- UK: 12.5 Mhl (+)
- USA: 9.3 Mhl (+)
- Russia: 5.5 Mhl (-)
- France: 4.5 Mhl (-)
- Canada: 3.5 Mhl (+)
- Netherlands: 3.3 Mhl (-)
- Belgium: 3 Mhl (+)
- China: 2.9 Mhl (+)
- Japan: 2 Mhl (+)
- Denmark: 2 Mhl (+)
- Switzerland: 1.9 Mhl (+)
- Italy: 1.7 Mhl (-)
- Portugal: 1.6 Mhl (+)
It is perhaps surprising to find Germany at the top of the list, but it has been there for quite some time.
The big gains have been in the USA, Canada, and China. China is still (in 2010) modest in size, only in 9th position, but in percentage terms the growth has been very high, from almost nothing in 2002. If the trend continues (as many producers hope) it will rapidly climb up the chart.
(Source: OIV)
The wine market and shop in Beaune, copyright BKWine Photography
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[...] and the UK are amongst the five largest wine consuming countries and also top the list of the three largest wine importing countries in the world (in reverse [...]