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Austrian wine exports reach record value

17 March 2023 By Louis Thomas

Last year, the value of exports of Austrian wine reached a new high of €231 million, with North American and Northern European markets driving the demand.

According to figures from Statistics Austria, the country exported 67.7 million litres of wine in 2022. Though this was 3.5% than the volume figure for 2021, the value of those exports rose by 6.4%, reaching a record average price per litre of €3.42.

While export volume has fluctuated over the last 20 years, export value has been on an upwards trajectory, spiking since 2020 as awareness of the quality of Austrian wine increases.

Austrian Wine CEO Chris York celebrated this boost: “Success in the export markets, and especially the record average price, is very important for our wine industry. The current wave of inflation is also hitting our winegrowers hard, which is why we need to focus on growing their added value.”

“We have noticed that our white wines are really hitting the spot with international consumers and demand is continually growing,” continued Yorke.

Indeed, the value of exports of white Qualitätswein rose by 7.9% and demand for Sekt (sparkling wine) shot up by 19.3%.

While Germany still has the biggest share in total sales value of Austrian wine exports (40.5%), exports of cheaper, bulk wine increased to the detriment of bottle wine, resulting in 1.3% drop in export value. Switzerland, which as the second biggest share (11.1%), saw a 8.6% rise in value.

For the UK, it’s an altogether different story. Though producers at a recent London tasting expressed continued interested in the UK market, the challenges of Brexit, such as additional paperwork and new labelling requirements, are cited as the reason for a 38% drop in value.

However, Austrian wine is has gone truly trans-Atlantic, as Yorke explained: “Already at last year’s VieVinum, Austria’s largest wine fair, we began to notice that our wines are in very high demand in certain countries, such as Canada, the USA and in Northern Europe. Consumers in these markets are looking for high-quality, environmentally consciously produced wines and also pay good prices for them. That’s a perfect match for us.”

The USA, the third biggest export market, recorded an 11.2% rise in value. Canada, the fifth biggest export market, experienced a 46.7% increase in value to €10.7m, a sevenfold increase on the figure from five years ago.

Despite a 15.8% drop in China, other East Asian markets are on the up, with the value of the Japanese and South Korean markets rising by 61.3% and 26.4% respectively.

“We can see that the targeted joint efforts of both Austrian Wine and the country’s winegrowers are paying off. We are on track to reach the next export target of a quarter of a billion euros,” concluded Yorke.

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