Italy’s wine exports fell 6.86% through May.

Italy’s wine exports lost ground in both value and volume in the first five months of 2026, and the latest trade figures show that May did not reverse the slowdown seen earlier in the year.

According to a foreign trade update from Istat, Italy’s national statistics institute, wine exports totaled 2.98 billion euros from January through May, down 6.86% from the same period a year earlier. Shipments by volume fell 5% to 809.1 million liters. The data were published on Aug. 11.

Measured against the comparable period in 2025, the drop amounts to about 219.5 million euros in lost export revenue and 42.6 million fewer liters sold abroad. Based on the implied comparison, exports in the first five months of last year were about 3.20 billion euros and 851.7 million liters.

The new figures also show that the downturn worsened in physical terms as the year progressed. Through April, Italian wine exports were down 3.7% by volume. After the inclusion of May, the decline widened to 5%, a sign that the market did not stabilize at the start of the late spring shipping period.

That shift matters because it suggests the weakness is not limited to a small change in timing or inventory movement. Exporters are moving less wine, and they are also earning slightly less for each liter sold. Using the January-to-May totals, the average export value slipped to about 3.68 euros per liter from about 3.76 euros a year earlier, a decline of roughly 2%.

The gap between the fall in value and the fall in volume is also notable. Export revenue declined 6.86%, while volume declined 5%, leaving a difference of 1.86 percentage points. In practical terms, that means the setback cannot be explained only by fewer liters shipped. The average return on those shipments also weakened, pointing to added pressure on prices, product mix or both.

Istat’s update does not, in this release, spell out which destination markets or wine categories drove the change. But the aggregate numbers show a broad enough decline to affect the overall export balance of one of Italy’s most important food and beverage industries. Wine remains one of the country’s strongest agricultural exports, and even small changes in average value can have a large effect when total shipments are measured in hundreds of millions of liters.

A lower unit value can reflect several market conditions. Importers may be buying more lower-priced wine, exporters may be using discounts to keep volumes moving, or the mix may be shifting away from higher-value labels. Whatever the reason, the result in the official data is clear: Italy is exporting less wine and collecting less money for each liter than it did in the same period last year.

The May reading is important because it follows signs of strain that had already appeared in the cumulative figures through April. Rather than improving, the trend became more pronounced once May was added, especially in volume. That change suggests the slowdown is not easing on its own, at least not in the export data now available.

For producers, bottlers and exporters, the decline in value is likely to be felt beyond headline trade totals. When average revenue per liter falls, margins can tighten even if wineries continue to ship significant amounts of wine. Costs tied to production, packaging, transport and financing do not necessarily fall at the same pace as export prices, which can leave less room to protect earnings.

The numbers are also significant because of the scale involved. A shortfall of 42.6 million liters over five months is not a minor adjustment in trade flow. It represents a sizable contraction in overseas demand or in the market’s willingness to absorb Italian wine at earlier price levels. The loss of about 219.5 million euros in export value over the same span reinforces that pressure.

In euro-per-liter terms, the change may look modest, but across more than 809 million liters it carries weight. A drop from 3.76 euros to 3.68 euros per liter translates into a weaker average return across the entire export basket, whether the shift comes from still wine, sparkling wine or lower-priced bulk shipments. Without a category breakdown in the update, the precise mix cannot be identified from these figures alone.

What can be said with certainty is that the first five months of 2026 have been weaker than the same stretch of 2025 for Italian wine abroad. The official trade data point to a market that is absorbing fewer liters, generating less revenue and delivering a lower average value per liter than a year ago.