Japan increases wine imports by volume while spending less on bottled wines in 2024

Japan reduced its spending on imported bottled wines in 2024, according to customs data from S&P Global (IHS), but the country actually increased the total volume of wine it brought in. The value of imported bottled wine fell by 8% compared to 2023, reaching 1.48 billion euros, while the volume rose by 2.2% to nearly 205 million liters. This means Japan spent 127 million euros less but imported 7 million liters more than the previous year.

The data shows that all wine categories except sparkling wine saw an increase in volume. Sparkling wine imports dropped slightly by 0.1%. Despite a general decrease in the average price per liter for bottled wine—down by almost 10%—the total value of imported bottled wine still grew by 2.2%. Bulk wine, which represents a small share of Japan’s total imports, also saw an increase in both value and volume.

France and Italy remain Japan’s top suppliers by value. France led with exports worth 873 million euros in 2024, down 11% from the previous year, while Italy followed with 196 million euros, a slight decrease of 0.7%. In terms of volume, Chile was the leading supplier, shipping 63 million liters to Japan—a rise of 2.3%. Other major suppliers include Spain, the United States, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, South Africa and Portugal.

French wines continue to command higher prices in Japan compared to those from other countries. Japanese consumers willing to pay more for a bottle tend to choose French labels. Italy was a distant second in value with sales of 196 million euros, followed by Chile at 133 million euros, Spain at 111 million euros and the United States at 109 million euros.

Looking at different types of wine, only bag-in-box (BiB) and bulk wines increased their value in 2024—by 8.3% and 5.3%, respectively. Sparkling wine saw the largest drop in value at 12.6%, falling to 598 million euros. Bottled still wine also decreased by nearly 5%, totaling almost 860 million euros. The overall volume of imported wine rose across most categories: bottled wine was up by 1.5%, bulk wine by over 7%, and BiB by more than 16%. Only sparkling wine saw a slight decline in volume.

Bottled wines made up the majority of Japan’s imports in both value (57%) and volume (62%) last year. Since 2017, all categories except bottled and bulk wines have shown positive growth rates in value. Bulk wine has seen an average annual decline of nearly 4%, while sparkling wine has grown at an average rate of almost 3% per year since 2017.

France maintained its lead with a market share of over 57% in value terms for Japanese imports in 2024, despite an annual drop of about 11%. Italy held nearly a 13% share with just under 196 million euros in sales. Spain ranked fourth in value with an 8% share but was the only major supplier to increase its export value to Japan last year—up by almost 8%.

Among other key suppliers, Portugal, Germany and the United States experienced significant declines in export values to Japan: -15%, -13%, and -12% respectively. These countries have seen some of the steepest drops over recent years.

In terms of volume, Chile led with over 62 million liters shipped to Japan last year—more than a quarter of the market and up by about 1.6%. France followed with just over 52 million liters but saw a decrease of nearly six percent from the previous year. Spain exported more than 45 million liters—a jump of over ten percent—making it third in volume and the fastest-growing major supplier both in value and volume.

The average price paid by Japan for imported bottled wines was €7.28 per liter last year; for bulk wines it was €1.01 per liter. French wines saw their average price fall by about five percent; Italian wines dropped by eight percent; and American wines experienced a sharp decrease from €13.30 per liter in 2023 to €10.10 per liter last year—a reduction of almost a quarter.

All major suppliers saw their average prices fall in Japan’s import market during this period, with the United States recording the largest drop among them at nearly twenty-four percent.