Are French wine and spirits exports really as bad as they seem?

At first glance, French wine and spirits exports in 2024 paint a dark picture for the industry. But is the situation really all doom and gloom? Eloise Feilden reports. On Tuesday the Fédération des Exportateurs de Vins & Spiritueux de France (FEVS) released its export figures for 2024, revealing a 4% fall in value to €15.6 billion. Gabriel Picard, president of FEVS, said "inflation and geopolitical uncertainties" are weakening, at least for the time being, the premiumisation observed in previous years. Headlines over the past couple of days have focused on the negative, highlighting the drop in value and referencing trade tensions, particularly with China. These are, of course, major concerns not only for French wine and spirits businesses but for those the world over. But hope remains. "What lessons should we draw from these mixed 2024 results?” asked Picard. The FEVS president cited concern for "the continued decline in both volume and now value", but asked whether we should "be satisfied with a performance that remains the fourth highest in history". Indeed, French wine and spirits exports have fallen over the past two years, but from record highs. French wine and spirits reached a peak of €17.2 billion in 2022. They fell 5.9% year-on-year to €16.2 billion in 2023 and have dropped again this year by 4% to €15.6 billion. But this figure remains above pre-Covid levels. French wine and spirits exports reached €14bn in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The years 2020 (-13.9% to €12.1bn) and 2021 (rebounding +28% to €15.5 billion) are a sign of the instability which the pandemic caused. For 2024, while value exports did fall, volumes stabilised year on year (-0.1%).

A closer look

Wine export volumes remained stable in 2024, up 0.7% on the previous year. Revenues declined 3%, predominantly due to a drop in Champagne sales (-8%), while still wines remained steady (-0.5%). In the US, wine and spirits exports are recovering (+5% to €3.8 billion). This rebound is more pronounced for wines, up 8.4% in value in 2024, while spirits remain stable (-0.1%). Champagne has experienced a slight decline in the US market (-2.3%), but sparkling wines from other appellations have spiked, up 16.5%. In Asia, certain markets held up well, such as Japan (-4% at €655 million), while others grew, including Malaysia (+5% at €75 million) and Thailand (+8% at €62 million). However, the positive results in some Asian markets were somewhat overshadowed by a 20% drop in China, with wine and spirits exports falling below the €1bn mark. Unfavourable economic conditions in China were compounded by an anti-dumping investigation into European brandies, which have heavily impacted France's Cognac sales. Tensions in China have massively impacted the overall outlook for French spirits, which fell by 6.5% to €4.5bn, with volumes decreasing to 46.6m cases (-1.8%). Exports to the UK remained stable (-0.7% at €1.7bn). Wine value declined 3.9% to €1.4bn, but the UK was a bright spot for spirits, which saw a sharp 21% increase to €260m. In terms of volume, wines increases 5.4% while spirits decreased 2.5%. Despite the wine and spirits sector seeing its trade balance shrink for the second consecutive year, the industry remains  the third-largest trade surplus for France. Picard called on EU and French leaders to resolve political tensions in order to shift exports back into the green. “On top of global economic volatility, geopolitical uncertainty remains high, whether concerning China or the United States,” Picard said. “We expect our European and French leaders to fully grasp that our industry, a key pillar of national sovereignty that cannot be outsourced, must be properly supported. In particular, they must resolve without further delay the dispute affecting Cognac and Armagnac for over a year, which otherwise will severely impact all links in the supply chain and beyond.”