NEWS
FRENCH WINE & SPIRIT EXPORTS DROPPED 4% IN 2024 DRAGGED BY CHINA, HK & S’PORE
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSER
14-2-2025
Credit: Jim Harris/Unsplash
Exports of French wine and spirits totalled €15.6 billion (USD17.5b) last year, representing a 4 percent decline from 2023, dragged mainly by weak demands in China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
According to industry group Federation des Exportateurs de Vins & Spiritueux (FEVS), China led the drop in value in 2024, with its imports down 20 percent year-on-year, while major Asian markets Singapore and Hong Kong recorded falls of 25 and 12 percent respectively.
With exports value to these three markets totalling €2.1b, the three accounted for 90 percent of last year's fall.
French spirits exports were hit hard last year, falling 6.5 percent to €4.5b, largely due to Beijing's anti-dumping measures on European brandy, mainly French Cognac.
Cognac sales dropped 11 percent in value. However, volume dipped just 1 percent, supported by restocking in the United States and precautionary purchases amid fears of new US tariffs on French wine and spirits, FEVS chairperson Gabriel Picard told Reuters ahead of the Wine Paris exhibition.
Producers have also attributed the gap between value and volume to a shift toward younger, cheaper Cognac.
Wine and spirits shipments to the USA, France’s largest export market, rose 5 percent to €3.8b in 2024.
In the wine sector, volumes edged 0.7 percent higher, but revenue dropped 3 percent to €10.9b, weighed down by an 8 percent decline in Champagne sales.
Looking ahead to the coming year, Picard said France face two major uncertainties: China and USA.
For the US market, if the risk of possible taxes are set aside, there are still relatively reassuring economic fundamentals, Picard believed.
On China, he praised France's efforts to defend the Cognac sector but called for concrete action ahead of an expected visit by Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to ease trade tensions.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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