France Leads Global Vineyard Cuts

France led the world in vineyard removal between 2024 and 2025, cutting 4.4% of its planted area, or about 35,000 hectares, according to the annual report released Monday by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine. The decline was far steeper than the average among the 25 largest wine-producing countries, where vineyard area fell 0.8%, and it came as global wine production, consumption and trade all moved lower.

The French reduction stands out because the country remains one of the biggest players in wine on nearly every measure. France ranks second in vineyard area, behind Spain and ahead of China; second in production volume, behind Italy and ahead of Spain; second in domestic consumption, behind the United States and ahead of Italy; and first in export value, ahead of Italy and Spain, according to the OIV report published May 12.

The latest figures suggest that France’s vineyard contraction is not a one-year anomaly. The country had already lost 7.4% of its vineyard area since 2020, while Chile was the only country to shed more land over that period, at 25.6%. In 2025 alone, Chile’s vineyard area fell 3.7%, to 154,000 hectares, and Hungary’s dropped 3.4%, to 58,000 hectares. Italy lost 1.3% and Spain 0.3%.

The OIV said the global vineyard area declined for a sixth straight year in 2025, slipping to 7 million hectares. John Barker, the organization’s director general, said in a statement that the wine sector has had to adjust in recent years to persistent climate, economic and social challenges. He added that trade disruptions linked to tariff policies created another external shock in 2025 for producers, exporters and supply-chain operators.

Those pressures were reflected in trade data. Global wine exports fell to 94.8 million hectoliters in 2025, down 4.7% from the previous year, while export value dropped to €33.8 billion, down 6.7%. Imports of wine into the United States fell to €5.5 billion, a decline of 11.6% from 2024.

Consumption also weakened. Worldwide wine consumption fell to 208 million hectoliters in 2025, down 2.7% from 2024, as mature markets continued to change and consumers faced tighter budgets. Production rose slightly to 227 million hectoliters, up 0.6% year over year.

The OIV said that a third consecutive year of relatively low global production has kept output and consumption broadly aligned, limiting the effect of weaker demand on stock levels.