Sparkling wine has been one of the stand-out wine categories over the past two decades around the globe. This bulletin will provide some insights into the sparkling wine category, covering the biggest sparkling wine producing countries, where the biggest and fastest growing markets are, and examining the key trends in the domestic market.
Steady growth in the global production of sparkling wine
According to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), between 2002 and 2018 global production of sparkling wine increased by 57 per cent, from 1.25 billion litres to 2 billion litres - a record level.
Despite the additional 750 million litres of sparkling wine produced over this time, sparkling wine accounts for a 7 per cent share of global wine production, making it a relatively small subset of the overall wine category. Still wine remains by far the biggest wine category with an over 90 per cent share of production.
Europe produces over 80 per cent of the world’s sparkling wine. Italy and France are the two biggest producers with 27 per cent and 22 per cent of global production respectively. Sparkling wine accounts for about 10 per cent of Italian wine production and it is similar in France.
Australia is the 6th-ranked producer with a 4 per cent share.
Long-term growth in global sparkling wine sales
According to the IWSR, sparkling wine sales totalled 37 billion US dollars in 2023 (see Figure 1). While sparkling wine makes up only 7 per cent of global production, it accounted for 20 per cent of global wine sales in 2023, reflecting the relatively high value of the category in the global market compared to other wine categories.
Sparkling wine has been the fastest growing wine category over the last two decades with an average annual value growth rate of 5 per cent per annum over the time period. In comparison, still wine sales grew by 2 per cent per annum while fortified wine sales declined by 2 per cent per annum.
Figure 1: Global sales of sparkling wine
Source: ISWR
USA and UK are the biggest imported sparkling wine markets
The United States is the biggest sparkling wine market by value with a 19 per cent share and a total market size of 7 billion US dollars in 2023 (see Figure 2).
Italy and France are in the top five, but sales in those two markets are dominated by local sparkling wine. In France, local sparkling wine accounted for 92 per cent of sales in the market and in Italy 83 per cent.
The US and the UK are the two biggest imported markets. The US imported sparkling wine market is valued at 5 billion US dollars and the UK at 3 billion US dollars.
Australia is the sixth biggest sparkling wine market with a value of 1.2 billion US dollars, with 45 per cent of the value local sparkling wines and 55 per cent imported.
Figure 2: Sparkling wine sales by market in 2023
Source: IWSR
USA and UK growth slowed in last year but continued in Germany and Japan
In 2023, there were mixed results for sparkling wine sales by market.
After growing over the previous five years, sales declined in the US and UK in the last year. Sales in the US fell by 1 per cent and in the UK by 2 per cent.
In comparison, the growth in Germany and Japan continued, up 9 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.
Imported sparkling wine sales were flat in Australia in 2023 after growing by 8 per cent per annum over the five year period.
Australian sparkling exports declined in the last 15 years
Looking at Australian sparkling wine exports, the value of exports peaked at $87 million in 2007 but then steadily declined through to 2020, falling to $30 million.
There have been some positive signs in the last three years, with value climbing back to around $40 million over this time.
Figure 3: Value of Australian sparkling wine exports over time
Source: Wine Australia
Sparkling white is Australia’s major category in size and growth
Sparkling white is the biggest Australian sparkling wine export category with almost two-thirds of the value or $25 million, followed by rosé with 29 per cent or $11 million and red a relatively small category with 6 per cent or just over $2 million.
Exports of all three have been relatively flat over the last five years but there have been mixed results over the last 12 months:
- Sparkling white exports grew by 7 per cent
- Sparkling Rosé exports fell by 8 per cent, while
- Sparkling red exports increased by 10 per cent
NZ the stand-out for Australian sparkling white exports
New Zealand is the biggest destination for Australian sparkling white wine exports with a 29 per cent share, valued at $7 million. The value of exports to New Zealand has grown by 17 per cent per annum over the last five years.
Exports to most other markets have been in decline, especially to the UK and US, which have both halved in value over the period, both now valued at around $1 million.
There has been strong growth off much smaller bases to Thailand, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates.
Thailand is now the third biggest destination for sparkling white exports with a record value of $2.5 million.
Figure 4: Top ten Australian sparkling white wine export destinations
Source: Wine Australia
Australian sparkling sales are forecast to grow after declining post the pandemic
Australian sparkling sales had been on the rise in the domestic market from 2014, but the growth was halted following the COVID-19 pandemic and associate lockdowns and then compounded by recent cost of living pressures.
However, the IWSR have forecast growth in the local Australian sparkling wine sales in the next five years – with an additional 250,000 cases expected to be sold by 2028 (see Figure 5).
Imported sparkling wines are showing a similar trajectory but are forecast to grow at a slightly stronger rate – the IWSR expect an additional 300,000 cases of imported sparkling wine to be sold in Australia by 2028.
Figure 5: Sparkling wine sales in the domestic market (million cases)
Source: IWSR
Australia dominates the domestic sparkling wine market
Just over 90 per cent of sparkling wine sales in Australia are from three countries – Australia, France and Italy.
Australian sparkling wine is the dominant category with two-thirds of the market.
France and Italy are the biggest imported categories, and both have similar shares of around 15 per cent each. French sales are dominated by Champagne and Italian sales by Prosecco.
The rest of the countries of origin such as New Zealand, Germany and Spain have quite small shares.
Prosecco the fastest growing category in the domestic off-trade market
Data from Circana shows that sparkling white is the biggest sparkling wine category in the domestic off-trade market with a 49 per cent share – however sales are declining, down by 6 per cent in last two years (see Figure 6). There was growth in sparkling white between $20 to $29.99 per bottle. This price segment accounts for a 16 per cent volume share of the sparkling white category and sales grew by 24 per cent over the last two years.
Prosecco is the second biggest category with a 26 per cent share, and sales continue to grow – up 37 per cent in last two years. Australia is the major country of origin for Prosecco with an 80 per cent share, with Italy holding the other 20 per cent.
Sparkling rosé sales accounted for a 10 per cent share but sales have been relatively flat in recent years.
Champagne sales hold an 8 per cent share of volume but sales are declining – down 28 per cent in last two years, with cost of living pressures having a significant impact on the Champagne sales.
Figure 6: Domestic off-trade sparkling wine sales by segment (million cases)
Source: Circana
Sparkling wine drinker numbers in Australia remain stable as population increases
Wine Intelligence released a specific report on the Sparkling wine market in Australia in 2021. While it is now three years old, it still contains some useful insights on sparkling wine drinkers in Australia.
Although the Australian adult population has grown by two million since 2018, the number of drinkers of sparkling wine in Australia has been relatively stable at 8.7 million in 2021. However, the number monthly sparkling wine drinkers has decreased slightly over the same time period from 5.7 million in 2018 to 5.3 million in 2021.
The decline in the proportion of consumers who are drinking wine 1-3 times per year suggests it’s the infrequent consumers leaving the category
A higher proportion of females drink sparkling wine in Australia with 54 per cent in 2021 compared to 46 per cent for males. The relative shares haven’t changed dramatically since 2018, although there was a slight increase in the share of males.
The age profile of sparkling wine drinkers in Australia is broadly stable, though there has been a drop in younger drinkers into the category. The share of 18-24 year olds drinking sparkling wine at least once a year has fallen from 16 per cent in 2021 to 9 per cent in 2021.