NEWS
JAPAN’S WINE IMPORTS DROPPED 7% IN 2020, TOP SUPPLIER CHILE BUCKED TREND WITH 4% GROWTH
By Susan Lewis
29-1-2021
Credit: David Mathews
Japan's wine imports in 2020 decreased 7 percent by volume because of dampened demands as a result of the pandemic, according to data from Japan's Finance Ministry.
Total imports of bottled wine in 2020 dropped to 163.9million litres from previous year's 176.29mn litres.
For six years in a row, Chile topped other wine producing countries to be the biggest wine supplier to Japan, where the consumers love Chilean wines’ affordability.
Wine imports from Chile bucked the decline trend and managed to grow 4 percent in the year, increasing to 49.1mn litres from 47.21mn litres.
Wine imports from France ranked second at 45.25mn litres, dropping from 47.12mn litres. Italy, Spain and the United States followed, with imports volumes at 28.36mn litres, 18.68mn litres and 6.39mn litres respectively.
Industry comments quoted by Kyodo News Agency said that retail sales of wine in the country on a volume basis are believed to have declined for about 10 percent in 2020.
"We have seen a shift in demand from commercial to household consumption," Keiko Yoshio, president of Suntory Wine International Ltd, told Kyodo News Agency.
The Japanese government declared its first state of emergency over the pandemic in early April last year covering Tokyo and six prefectures, urging people to stay at home and non-essential businesses, including restaurants and bars, to suspend operations.
The emergency was extended nationwide later that month, weighing heavily on the world's third-largest economy until it was completely lifted in late May.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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