The wine, flagship of Made in Italy. An ever-expanding industry that seems to know no crisis and is managing to reposition itself on the world stage while maintaining its global leadership. To confirm this, just look at the numbers: the Italian wine industry recorded 11 billion euros in turnover in 2018, while exports reached 6,2 billion. There are 523 PDO and PGI certified products, a reality that gives our country the world record. However, Italy not only likes wine to produce and export, but also to drink it. It is no coincidence that we are in third place in the world in the consumption ranking, with 22 million hectoliters consumed.
This is the photograph of the world of Italian wine contained in theUnicredit Industry Book 2019, a study that analyzes trends, competitive dynamics and prospects for development and growth of the national wine sector every year. This year, the study reviewed a sample of 685 wine-producing companies that have filed their balance sheets in the last 5 years and which, on average, have grown by 3,9% a year.
Andrea Casini, Head of Commercial Banking Italy of Unicredit, confirms the bank's commitment “to support Italian wine in the world. An action which, thanks to a strong focus on dedicated specialists and services, allowed us in 2018 to triple new disbursements to the sector, thus exceeding 320 million euro. Close to the main trade fair event in the sector, Vinitaly, with which it has renewed its historic partnership this year, UniCredit provides professionals with the most complete and realistic picture possible of the trends taking place in the sector and their possible evolutions”.
THE ITALIAN WINE INDUSTRY
I'm more than 2 thousand Italian companies operating in the wine sectoror, for a turnover that – as mentioned – reached 11 billion euros, accounting for about 8% of the national revenues of the sector Food & Beverage. A large part of this turnover – 54 percent, 6,2 billion – is generated on foreign markets, in a sector that demonstrates a very strong propensity for exports. At this juncture, DOP and IGP wines and sparkling wines dominate, "with a propensity for exports that stands at 58% and 63% respectively", underlines Unicredit.
As for production, in 2018 Italy produced 50,4 million hectoliters of wine (+10,5% compared to 2017), once again confirming itself as the world's leading producer, with a percentage equal to 17% of the total.
This primacy is guaranteed above all by the production of PDO wines (+21,7% year on year, of which +23,4% redheads and +20,5% whites) and PGI (+2,5% year on year). Remaining in the field of certifications, the Industry Book underlines how 1 out of 3 certified wines in Europe is produced in Italy for a total of 523 certified wines. In second place, as expected, there is France, but what is impressive is the gap. In fact, Paris stops at 435 certified wines.
In this context it should be emphasized the growth of the organic wine market. In Italy, not only has the area of organic vine cultivation increased, which has exceeded 100 hectares, but also production, especially in regions such as Calabria, where 51% of the area planted with vines is dedicated to organic farming, in Basilicata ( 49%) and Sicily, first in Italy for hectares cultivated with organic vines.
HOW MUCH WINE WE DRINK – HOW MUCH WINE WE EXPORT
Everyone likes wine. Without distinction. Over the past fifteen years, global wine consumption has risen by 6,6 percent annually. In 2017, according to the OIV, 243 million hectoliters of wine were consumed in the world. From a geographical point of view, China has literally doubled its consumption, getting ever closer to the United States which, at the end of 2017 (latest data available) was the first wine consumer with 32 million hectoliters (24% of total consumption). Italy, on the other hand, represents 9,3% of world demand, with 22 million hectoliters.
Demand is growing and as a result, sales are growing. In 2018, world wine sales exceeded 30 billion euros, up 0,8% on the previous year and despite the contraction in global volumes (-6,7% y/y). “On the import front – underlines Unicredit – there is a relatively moderate degree of concentration with the top 10 importing countries able to intercept only 67% of global trade. The United States is confirmed as the leading world market but good growth dynamics are recorded for "mature" markets such as Belgium (+2,7%), Germany (+1,9%) and the Netherlands (+1,3%). Conversely, the exporting countries are very concentrated, so much so that the top 3 EU countries export 60% of world exports”.
In this context Italy holds almost 20% (19,8% to be precise) of the total share of exports, with 6,2 billion in sales on foreign markets. In 2018, the value of Italian exports grew by 3,3% compared to the previous year, despite a decrease in volumes (-7,8% year on year). Who do we sell our wine to? The USA remains the first outlet market, followed by Germany and the United Kingdom. These 3 markets together absorb more than half (53,6%) of global Italian exports. The destination markets that grew the most compared to 2017 include France (+10,1%), Sweden (+7,5%) and the Netherlands (+5,6%).
ITALIAN WINE: PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE
From a worldwide point of view, the OIV estimates that the total revenues of the sector will grow by 1,5% annually, reaching 2023 billion dollars in 350. “Turnover will be driven by global spending on wine consumption – explains Unicredit –: the progressive expansion of disposable income and the middle class in emerging countries, combined with the greater orientation towards quality wines in Europe, will lead to an acceleration compared to the last 5 years, with an average growth rate for the period 2018-2023 of 3,8%”.
As far as Italy is concerned, based on Nomisma Wine Monitor data, Unicredit identifies the "most interesting markets" to which to export our wine. In detail, China, where sales volumes are expected to increase by 11,9%, Canada (+6,5%) and Japan (+4,2%) will be the markets to export still wines. As far as sparkling wines are concerned, it will be necessary to focus on Canada, the USA and China, where growth of 18,4%, 14,6% and 12,2% should be recorded respectively.
