Italian Wine Exports Fell 6.2% in the First Half of 2026

Italian wine exports fell in the first half of 2026, extending the weakness seen last year as softer global demand hit both sales values and volumes.

According to the Observatory of Unione Italiana Vini, which processed data from Italy’s national statistics agency ISTAT released Monday, exports for the January-to-June period declined 6.2% from a year earlier to just over 3.6 billion euros. Export volumes fell 4%, while the average export price slipped 2.3%.

The pressure was broad across Italy’s main overseas markets. Unione Italiana Vini said orders declined in nine of the country’s 10 largest buyer markets. Russia was the main exception, with growth of 15.7%. The average export price fell especially sharply in the United States, where it was down 7.8%.

Lamberto Frescobaldi, president of Unione Italiana Vini, said Italian wine is facing the same global demand slowdown affecting other major producing countries. He said the trend reflects a structural drop in consumption, made worse by weaker purchasing power and geopolitical tensions, and argued that the industry needs a broader reorganization to respond to the new environment.

The United States remained Italy’s largest foreign market for wine in the first half, but sales there dropped 14.1% to 849 million euros. Exports to Germany fell 6.8% to 534 million euros, and shipments to the United Kingdom declined 6.6% to 346 million euros.

Some markets moved in the opposite direction. Besides Russia, exports to China rose 19.8%, while Brazil increased 8.2%. The Mercosur bloc as a whole posted growth of 18.4%. Those gains, however, were not enough to offset the broader weakness across Europe and North America, which remain central to Italy’s export performance.

The data also showed a split by product category. Sparkling wines held broadly steady, edging up 0.4% in value. Bottled still wines continued to struggle, with exports down 8.9%. That contrast suggests demand has been more resilient for some premium and celebratory segments, while pressure has intensified in the larger still-wine business.

At the regional level, Veneto, the largest exporting region, posted an 8.4% decline. Tuscany was down 7.4%. Piedmont returned to second place among exporting regions after rising 2.4%, helped by Asti Spumante.

For the broader drinks industry, the Italian wine figures are closely watched because they can signal wider stress in export demand, pricing, and inventory management. A prolonged slowdown could increase pressure on producers and distributors to adjust supply, promotions, and market strategy, especially if weaker demand continues to push down average prices. That matters not only for wine makers but also for companies across beer, spirits, and other beverage categories that rely on the same export channels, retail buyers, and consumer spending trends.

Even so, the industry group said the market shock of the past 12 months may be showing the first signs of easing, provided international tensions do not worsen. Provisional data for July and August in markets outside the European Union point to a possible recovery, including a double-digit rebound in the United States compared with the very weak same period in 2025.

There were also modest signs of improvement inside the European Union in June, though not enough to lift the first-half balance back into positive territory. Frescobaldi said the current phase requires a sector-wide response rather than isolated measures, as producers try to navigate weaker demand, tighter household budgets, and uncertainty linked to international tensions.