Switzerland cuts wine imports in 2024 as demand and prices decline across most categories

Switzerland reduced its wine imports in both value and volume in 2024, according to data from S&P Global (IHS). The country imported €1.177 billion worth of wine, a 7.1% decrease compared to 2023, and brought in 161.33 million liters, down 3.4% from the previous year. This represents a decline of €89.8 million and 5.7 million liters year-over-year.

The drop affected nearly all wine categories by volume, with the exception of bulk wine, which rose slightly by 1.8%. Despite this increase in volume, the value of bulk wine imports still fell by 2.2%, reflecting a drop in average price. Bag-in-box (BiB) wines saw a minor price increase of 0.2%, but their total import value declined by 8.9% to €19.1 million.

France and Italy remained Switzerland’s top wine suppliers in both value and volume. France led in value with €442.1 million in exports to Switzerland, a sharp decline of 12.1% from 2023. Italy followed closely with €437.3 million, down 2.9%. In terms of volume, Italy was the clear leader with 68.64 million liters exported in 2024, representing a 2.4% decrease but still accounting for 42.5% of Switzerland’s total wine imports by volume. France supplied 35.58 million liters, down 5%, while Spain came third with 27.05 million liters, an 8.6% drop.

Spain also ranked third in value with €131.1 million, representing an 11.1% market share despite a decline of 4.5%. The gap between Spain and France in terms of value remains significant at over €310 million, highlighting the difference in average price per liter between the two countries.

Other notable suppliers included Portugal, Germany, the United States, Austria, Argentina, Australia and Chile. Among these, Australia recorded the most significant growth in value at 46.2%, surpassing Chile to become Switzerland’s ninth-largest wine supplier by value despite Chile’s own increase of 17.9%.

All major wine categories experienced declines in import value in 2024. Sparkling wine saw the steepest drop at 15.9%, totaling €225.44 million imported during the year. Bottled wine fell by 4.8% to €873 million, while BiB wine dropped to €19.1 million and bulk wine to €59.48 million.

In terms of volume, bottled wine decreased by 4.71% to just under 88 million liters, while BiB and sparkling wines also declined. Bulk wine was the only category that grew in volume, reaching approximately 45 million liters.

Looking at long-term trends since 2017, all categories except bulk wine have shown positive compound annual growth rates (CAGR) in value terms. BiB wine has grown the most with a CAGR of 4.6%, while bulk wine has declined at a rate of -2.4%. Overall import volume has decreased by an average annual rate of -1.7% since 2017, while import value has increased by +1.8%, indicating a general rise in average prices over time.

In terms of market share by value in 2024, France held the lead with 37.6%, followed closely by Italy at 37.1%. Spain accounted for an 11.1% share and showed resilience by losing less than the overall market average.

Average prices fell across most major suppliers except for Spain, which saw a price increase of 4.4%. Portuguese wines also appreciated by an average of 3.7%, and Austrian wines rose slightly by 0.6%. In contrast, French wines saw their average price fall by 7.3%, while Italian wines dropped by just 0.5%. Germany and the United States also experienced notable decreases in average prices.

Switzerland sourced its wine from a total of 85 countries in 2024 but continued to rely heavily on its top three suppliers—France, Italy and Spain—for the majority of its imports both in terms of quantity and value.