Spain’s wine-sector export volume hit a decade low in the first half of 2026

Spain’s exports of wine-sector products fell sharply in the first half of 2026, with shipments down 20.2% by volume and 10.2% by value from the same period a year earlier, according to data published by the Spanish Tax Agency, known as AEAT, and analyzed by the Spanish Wine Interprofessional Organization, or OIVE.

From January through June, Spain exported wine-sector products worth €1,560.9 million and totaling 1,125.4 million liters. In the first half of 2025, those exports had reached €1,737.4 million and 1,410 million liters. That means Spain sold €176.5 million less abroad and shipped 284.6 million fewer liters over the latest six-month period.

The broader wine-sector category includes wine, aromatized wines, grape must and vinegar. OIVE said the decline was less severe when only wine exports were counted and the other categories were excluded. Spanish wine exports, without aromatized wines, must or vinegar, fell 8.2% in value to €1,326.4 million and 15.8% in volume to 840 million liters in the first half of the year.

The data show that grape must was one of the main factors behind the weaker overall result. Must exports dropped 25% in value and 36% in volume in the first six months of 2026. Aromatized wines also moved lower, down 7.4% in value and 10.5% in volume, while vinegar exports fell 5.5% in value and 7.1% in volume.

The decline in total volume was roughly twice as large as the decline in value, a gap that stands out in the 2017-2026 first-half series cited by OIVE. At 1,125.4 million liters, the 2026 total was the lowest first-half export volume in that period. The previous low came in 2020, when Spain exported 1,210 million liters in the first six months of the year. The latest reading was therefore 85 million liters below that mark, a drop of about 7%.

By value, the first-half 2026 figure was also weak, though not at a record low. The €1,560.9 million registered this year was the lowest first-half value since 2020 and the fourth-lowest in the 2017-2026 series. OIVE’s review shows that Spain exported €1,483 million in the first half of 2017, €1,461 million in 2019 and €1,360 million in 2020, all below the 2026 level, while the years from 2018 through 2025 were higher.

The longer trend points to a reversal after the strong first half of 2024. That year marked the peak value in the series at €1,798 million, with volume at 1,459 million liters. In the first half of 2025, exports eased to €1,737 million and 1,410 million liters. The decline became steeper in 2026, especially in volume. Compared with the 2024 high, Spain’s wine-sector exports were down €237 million in value, or 13.2%, and down 334 million liters in volume, or 22.9%, by the first half of this year.

The series also shows that value and volume have often moved in different directions. In 2018, export value rose to €1,616 million while volume slipped to 1,297 million liters. In 2019, volume recovered to 1,364 million liters but value fell to €1,461 million. Both measures dropped in 2020, then rebounded in 2021, when Spain exported €1,588 million and 1,538 million liters in the first half. In 2022 and 2023, value rose again even as volume moved lower. That pattern suggests that changes in prices, product mix or both have played a large role in export performance over the last decade.

One indicator behind the smaller fall in value this year is the average export value per liter. Based on the first-half totals, Spain exported wine-sector products at an apparent average of about €1.39 per liter in 2026. That was up from roughly €1.23 per liter in the same period of 2025, an increase of about 12.6%, and it was the highest first-half level in the 2017-2026 series reviewed by OIVE.

That higher average helped cushion the financial impact of the loss in volume. The comparison with 2021 is one of the clearest examples. In the first half of 2021, Spain earned €1,588 million from 1,538 million liters. In the first half of 2026, export value was only €27 million lower, a difference of 1.7%, even though exported volume was 413 million liters lower, a drop of 26.9%. The figures show that each liter exported in 2026 generated more value, on average, than in earlier years.

OIVE said the data set does not break down the first-half results by destination market, packaging type or detailed pricing, so it does not identify a single commercial reason for the shift. But the breakdown by product does show that the sharp fall in grape must exports weighed on the wider wine-sector total, while the wine-only figures posted smaller declines than the aggregate category.

Over the full period from 2017 to 2026, the first-half export pattern has changed in a clear way. Total value rose from €1,483 million in 2017 to €1,560.9 million in 2026, an increase of about 5.3%. Over the same span, volume fell from 1,371 million liters to 1,125.4 million liters, a drop of about 17.9%. That means Spain is exporting fewer liters than it did at the start of the series while generating slightly more revenue than it did then.

The next half-year data will show whether the 2026 drop in volume was a one-year setback or part of a lower trend after the 2024 peak. For now, the first-half figures place Spain’s wine-sector exports at their weakest level by volume in at least a decade of comparable midyear data, with wine exports holding up better than the broader category because the steepest losses came outside wine itself.