Wine’s changing landscape: reading the 2025 global report

18 October 2026 · Vikipedia

Wine has a curious talent: it fits in a glass, yet someone soon arrives with a global chart. You only asked what would go with the rice.

This time, the chart deserves a look. The International Organisation of Vine and Wine’s review of 2025, published in May 2026, tells a more interesting story than “sales are down”: production, consumption and trade are changing together. Understanding them means keeping them separate. Stir everything into one headline and the result gets rather cloudy.

The figures, translated into dinner-table language

The OIV estimates global production at 227 million hectolitres: 0.6% above 2024, but 9.4% below the previous five-year average. A hectolitre is one hundred litres; these figures measure wine, not bottles. Consumption is estimated at 208 million hectolitres, down 2.7%.

That modest production increase does not mean a complete recovery. It is measured against a year that was already very low. Climbing one step after descending several still leaves some way to go. The cellar stairs provide a useful demonstration.

A smaller harvest does not automatically mean a wine shortage

This was the third consecutive year of low global output. The report identifies frost, excessive rainfall and prolonged drought, with different effects across regions. It also considers production adjustments in response to weaker demand. Weather matters enormously, but it does not explain every decision in the industry.

The OIV suggests that lower output can gradually ease pressure from stocks rather than cause widespread shortages. Wine from previous harvests remains in storage, and consumption has also fallen.

One caution: subtracting consumption from production does not tell us how much wine “nobody wants”. Understanding the balance requires stocks, other uses and differences in timing. The calculator is excellent at subtraction. Interpreting the answer is still our job.

Consumption is falling, without one convenient explanation

The report connects the decline with changing habits in mature markets and economic pressure on purchasing power. Nine of the ten largest markets recorded lower volumes. That describes a broad trend; it does not establish that everyone changed their tastes in the same way.

A total measured in litres cannot, by itself, tell us how many people stopped drinking, how many drank less often, or which styles they chose. Those questions require other evidence. Blaming “young people” is convenient, particularly when they are not in the meeting to answer back.

Wine travels, and borders can send a bill

Global exports reached 94.8 million hectolitres, down 4.7%, and €33.8 billion in value, down 6.7%. The OIV highlights uncertainty associated with US tariff measures and weaker demand in several importing markets.

Volume and value describe different things: how much wine moves and how much money it represents. Value also depends on the mix of products and prices. Neither percentage translates directly into a price change for the bottle you are considering in a Barcelona shop.

Where does Catalonia fit?

Spain produced 28.7 million hectolitres, 7.7% less than in 2024. However, the report identifies Catalonia as the exception to the year-on-year decline among Spain’s major producing regions. That is a useful warning against generalisation: a national total does not describe every region equally.

The Catalan figure does not settle the question for every appellation, village or vintage either. Choosing a bottle still means asking where it comes from, what happened during that growing season and which style the producer intended.

The global review helps explain producers’ challenges and decisions. It does not score the wine in your glass or predict the 2026 harvest. Next time, try replacing “apparently wine is in trouble” with “what is happening in this particular region?” It is a more useful question. And there is still time to choose something for the rice.

Source and scope

Data: OIV (May 2026), State of the World Wine Sector in 2025, particularly pages 6, 10–11, 14 and 17–18. © OIV 2026. The 2025 figures include preliminary estimates and may be revised. Explanation and editorial commentary are our own; no OIV endorsement is implied. Expanded on 18 October 2026.