World’s Biggest Wine Producers by Country

2023-09-13 16:06:23

Ranked: World’s Biggest Wine Producers By Country

“Wine gives a man fresh strength when he is wearied”—Homer, The Iliad

Wine has been in our cups, in our thoughts, and in our poems for many a millennia, from the antics of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, to its symbolism in the Last Supper. But breaking down the biggest wine producers by country in the modern era leads to some interesting surprises.

This infographic by Alberto Rojo Moro uses data from the International Organization of Vine and Wine (HIV) to visualize where wine production is concentrated in the world.

We take a quick look below.

The Top Wine Producers By Country in 2022

At the top of the list, Italy produced nearly 50 million hectoliters—or about 1,994 Olympic-sized swimming pools—of wine in 2022, accounting for nearly one-fifth of total production in the year. Less than half of that wine was sent to overseas markets, also making Italy the biggest exporter of the beverage by volume.

ℹ️ One hectolitre is equal to 100 liters and is used as a unit of measure for wine, beer, and other agricultural produce.

The country’s long coastline results in a moderate climate, allowing winemaking to occur in 20 different regions in Italy, with Veneto, Apulia, Emilia-Romagna, and Sicily leading in production.

Other known wine connoisseur countries—France (45.6 hectoliters) and Spain (35.8 million hectoliters)—rank second and third in wine production respectively. Together these three countries make up half of the world’s wine supply.

Here’s a full list of the world’s biggest wine producers by country.

Rank	Country	Continent	Quantity (1,000 hl)	% of Total Production
1	???????? Italy	Europe	49,843	19.30%
2	???????? France	Europe	45,590	17.65%
3	???????? Spain	Europe	35,703	13.82%
4	???????? U.S.	America	22,385	8.67%
5	???????? Australia	Oceania	12,745	4.93%
6	???????? Chile	America	12,444	4.82%
7	???????? Argentina	America	11,451	4.43%
8	???????? South Africa	Africa	10,155	3.93%
9	???????? Germany	Europe	8,940	3.46%
10	???????? Portugal	Europe	6,777	2.62%
11	???????? Russia	Europe	4,700	1.82%
12	???????? China	Asia	4,182	1.62%
13	???????? New Zealand	Oceania	3,830	1.48%
14	???????? Romania	Europe	3,788	1.47%
15	???????? Brazil	America	3,200	1.24%
16	???????? Hungary	Europe	2,900	1.12%
17	???????? Austria	Europe	2,527	0.98%
18	???????? Georgia	Europe	2,135	0.83%
19	???????? Greece	Europe	2,127	0.82%
20	???????? Moldova	Europe	1,400	0.54%
21	???????? Switzerland	Europe	992	0.38%
22	???????? North Macedonia	Europe	936	0.36%
23	???????? Japan	Asia	830	0.32%
24	???????? Peru	America	810	0.31%
25	???????? Uruguay	America	756	0.29%
26	???????? Bulgaria	Europe	747	0.29%
27	???????? Canada	America	692	0.27%
28	???????? Ukraine	Europe	660	0.26%
29	???????? Türkiye	Asia	622	0.24%
30	???????? Czech Republic	Europe	586	0.23%
31	???????? Croatia	Europe	561	0.22%
32	???????? Slovenia	Europe	546	0.21%
33	???????? Kazakhstan	Asia	445	0.17%
34	???????? Israel	Asia	430	0.17%
35	???????? Morocco	Africa	418	0.16%
36	???????? Turkmenistan	Asia	400	0.15%
37	???????? Mexico	America	396	0.15%
38	???????? Tunisia	Africa	370	0.14%
39	???????? Belarus	Europe	340	0.13%
40	???????? Slovakia	Europe	334	0.13%
41	???????? Albania	Europe	228	0.09%
42	???????? Uzbekistan	Asia	216	0.08%
43	???????? Algeria	Africa	193	0.07%
44	???????? India	Asia	180	0.07%
45	???????? UK	Europe	91	0.04%
46	???????? Luxembourg	Europe	85	0.03%
47	???????? Cyprus	Europe	79	0.03%
48	???????? Lithuania	Europe	32	0.01%
49	???????? Belgium	Europe	30	0.01%
50	???????? Malta	Europe	13	0.01%
51	???????? Netherlands	Europe	10	0.00%
52	???????? Poland	Europe	5	0.00%
53	???????? Denmark	Europe	1	0.00%
	???? World	All	258,265	100%

Note: Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

The U.S.ranked 4th, is the top wine producer from the Americas, beating out other wine-producing countries like Chile (6th) and Argentina (7th).

South Africa, ranked 8th, is one of only four African countries in the dataset as winemaking isn’t as widespread on the continent as other regions in the world.

Meanwhile, China (ranked 12th) is the top wine producer from Asia. The region’s preference for other distilled spirits helps explain why the next two biggest Asian wine producers, Japan (23rd) and Türkiye (29th) occupy the middle ranks.

Unsurprisingly, European countries account for two-thirds of the world’s wine supply, followed by the Americas (20%) and then Oceania (6%).

Climate Concerns for Future Wine Production

Wine production has stayed relatively stable for the last decade but climate change is coming for this industry as well.

According to the New York Timeswarmer temperatures are both a blessing and curse for winemakers. Some areas once deemed too inhospitable for grapevines (like England) are starting to show potential for certain varietals and wines. At the same time, in some traditional regions, prolonged warmer weather is leading to overripening, forcing winemakers to limit the grapes’ exposure to sunlight.

And the general weather anomalies caused by climate change—floods, droughts, wildfires—all make wine production just a little more difficult than it already is.

Which prompts a question worth pouring a glass of wine over to ponder: which wine producing countries will survive, adapt, languish or thrive in the coming decades?

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist’s Creator Programwhich features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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