Germany’s wine export value fell 3% in the first half of 2026

Germany’s wine exports held steady in volume in the first half of 2026, but weaker sales in the United States and a small drop in overall export value showed how uneven the market has become for producers.

The German Wine Institute, or DWI, said at an export forum that Germany shipped 600,000 hectoliters of wine from January through June, unchanged from the same period a year earlier. The value of those exports fell 3% to €186 million.

The figures point to a market that is stable in headline terms but shifting by destination. The strongest growth came from northern Europe, especially Sweden, while the United States remained a difficult market because of continuing tariffs and a challenging commercial environment.

According to the DWI, sales of German wine through Sweden’s state alcohol retailer Systembolaget rose 10% in the first nine months of this year, while revenue increased 11%. That expansion came even as the Swedish wine market as a whole shrank 2%, with demand led mainly by German white wines.

The DWI said Sweden, together with Norway, Finland and Denmark, has become increasingly important for German exporters in recent years. Combined, those four markets accounted for one-quarter of Germany’s wine exports in the first half of 2026.

By contrast, the United States now represents only 9% of Germany’s wine export volume. From January to June, exports to the U.S. fell 11% in both volume and value, the institute said, citing ongoing tariffs and difficult market conditions.

Melanie Broyé-Engelkes, managing director of the DWI, described the stable overall export volume as a positive result given what she said was a broad global reluctance among consumers to buy wine. She said demand for lighter, fresh and fruit-forward white wines had helped support German shipments, because that is a category German exporters are well placed to supply.

For wine producers, importers and other beverage companies, the latest data may shape decisions on where to focus sales efforts. The numbers suggest that U.S. tariff pressure is still weighing on shipments, while stronger Nordic demand for German white wines could offer a clearer path for growth in export planning.

The discussion at the DWI forum also turned to public support for export promotion. Christine Schneider, the wine minister for the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, said the state supports winegrowers with sales-promotion measures in non-EU markets and with funding options tied to international events, trade fairs and exhibitions. Federal support for wineries was also presented at the forum through participation in business delegations and trade fairs organized by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Home Affairs.

The pressure in the U.S. market is not limited to German producers. In Italy, the farm group Coldiretti said this week that Italian wine sales in the United States have lost €300 million in value over the past year and a half. Coldiretti attributed that decline to a mix of factors, including Trump-era tariffs and the weaker dollar, though it said demand for products such as Prosecco had proved more resilient.

That broader weakness in the American market helps explain why German producers are paying closer attention to countries where consumer demand is moving in the opposite direction. In Sweden, growth has come despite a contracting overall market, suggesting German white wines are gaining share rather than simply benefiting from a wider rise in consumption.

The export data also underline how much the structure of Germany’s wine trade has changed. With the U.S. accounting for less than one-tenth of export volume and the Nordic countries together taking one-quarter, the balance of opportunity has moved toward nearby northern European markets that have shown stronger interest in the styles Germany produces most competitively.

Even so, the small decline in total export value shows that maintaining volume has not fully protected producers from pricing pressure. That matters for wineries already facing a cautious global consumer backdrop and, more broadly, for beverage exporters trying to preserve margins while adjusting to tariffs, exchange-rate effects and changing drinking habits across key markets.