Australian wine exports continue to experience strong growth, with an increase of 11 per cent in value to $2.71 billion for the year ended 30 September 2018.
Wine Australia reports that Australian wine also rose in volume to 5 per cent to 842 million litres, for the year ended 30 September 2018.
Shipments of bottled wine increased by 8 per cent in value to $2.16b and 2 per cent in volume to 366m litres.
Shipments of unpackaged wine also grew strongly, with a 23 per cent increase in value to $525m and a 9 per cent increase in volume to 468m litres.
READ: Australian wine exports to Canada increase in volume and value
There were also increases in the average value of wine exported, with a 7 per cent increase for bottled wine to $5.90 per litre, a 13 per cent increase of unpackaged wine to $1.12 per litre and a 5 per cent increase of all wine exported to $3.21 per litre.
Wine Australia CEO Andreas Clark said today’s export figures show that there has been strong and sustainable growth over the past 12 months, delivering the third year of double-digit growth on a year ended September basis.
“These figures are the result of a lot of hard work by Australia’s 2401 wine exporters, the people who spend time in market to build their brands, distribution networks and awareness of all that Australian wine has to offer consumers.
“Australia exports more than 60 per cent of the wine we produce, so it’s important that we continue to build our export markets,” he said.
“In the 12 months to 30 September, there was healthy growth across the price spectrum. Exports above $10 per litre increased by 20 per cent to $804m, with the $20 to $29.99 segment in particular, showing considerable growth. Below $10 per litre, the $5 to $7.49 segment was the star, growing by $50m,” said Clark.
Exports grew to all but one of the major destination regions.
The standout growth of 24 per cent was experienced in Northeast Asia, where exports grew to $1.14b in value, while in North America, a $16m increase in exports to Canada only partially offset a $38m decline in exports to the United States of America.
Regions in growth:
- Northeast Asia, by 24 per cent to $1.14b
- Europe, by 5 per cent to $604m
- Southeast Asia, by 5 per cent to $170m
- Oceania, by 21 per cent to $105m
- Middle East, by 41 per cent to $30m
“Growing the China and the USA markets is the key focus of the Australian government’s export and regional wine support package. We are seeing strong growth in China and we have redoubled our efforts in the USA to capture more of the premium end of the market as American consumers trade up to higher priced wines,” said Clark.
“There is positive sentiment about Australian wine in the USA among key influencers and consumers. While consolidation at the distribution level of the three-tier system is proving to be a difficult barrier to overcome, the hard work of Australian exporters willing to get in to market is starting to pay off,” he said.