South Korea’s wine import bill fell to 184.13 million euros in the first half of 2026

South Korea spent less on imported wine in the first half of 2026, as weaker purchases of packaged products more than offset a small gain in bulk wine. The country’s wine import bill fell to 184.13 million euros from January through June, down about 9 million euros from the same period a year earlier, according to South Korean customs data compiled by Trade Data Monitor and analyzed by the Spanish Wine Interprofessional Organization, or OIVE.

Total import volume also edged lower, falling 0.8% to 27.6 million liters. The average price paid dropped 3.9% to 6.66 euros a liter. The decline was concentrated in packaged wine, which remains by far the largest part of the market by value.

Imports of packaged wine, a category that includes sparkling wine, wine in containers smaller than 2 liters and bag-in-box formats, came to 175.08 million euros in the first six months of the year, down 5% from a year earlier. That segment represented 95.1% of South Korea’s total wine import spending. Bulk wine accounted for the remaining 9.05 million euros, up 2.4%, but its 4.9% share of total value meant the increase was too small to change the broader trend.

The imbalance between the two categories explains most of the market’s movement. Based on the published rates of change, spending on packaged wine fell by roughly 9.2 million euros, while bulk wine added only about 212,000 euros. Even though bulk shipments grew, the decline in the higher-value packaged segment drove the total lower.

Within packaged wine, the biggest drop came from wine shipped in containers smaller than 2 liters, excluding sparkling products. South Korea imported 137.86 million euros of that category, down 6% from the first half of 2025. It accounted for about 74.9% of all money spent on imported wine and 78.7% of the packaged segment. The fall in value amounted to about 8.8 million euros.

The decline in spending on those smaller containers was larger than the decline in volume. Imports fell 1.4% to 20.12 million liters, while the average price dropped 4.6% to 6.85 euros a liter. That suggests the lower import bill was not only the result of buying less wine, but also of paying less per liter.

Sparkling wine followed a different pattern. South Korea imported 35.36 million euros of sparkling wine, only 0.2% less than a year earlier, even though volume fell 13.4% to 2.65 million liters. The average price rose 15.1% to 13.37 euros a liter, which largely preserved the value of those imports despite the lower volume. The data do not show whether that change came from higher prices for comparable wines, a shift toward more expensive labels, or a different mix of products.

Bag-in-box wine posted the sharpest percentage decline among the packaged categories tracked in the data. Imports fell 19.1% in value to 1.86 million euros. Volume declined 14.6% to 1.25 million liters, and the average price dropped 5.2% to 1.49 euros a liter. Because bag-in-box represents only about 1% of total import spending, its role in the overall market decline was limited.

Bulk wine moved in the opposite direction, but price pressure held back the value gain. South Korea imported 3.62 million liters of bulk wine in the first half, up 23.2% from a year earlier. The average price, however, fell 16.9% to 2.50 euros a liter, leaving the value increase at just 2.4%. Bulk wine accounted for about 13.1% of total imported volume, compared with less than 5% of total spending.

The latest figures extend a longer decline in packaged wine imports when the first halves of recent years are compared. The value of packaged wine imports rose from 228.5 million euros in 2021 to 268.1 million euros in 2022, the high point in the six-year series cited by OIVE. It then fell to 245.5 million euros in 2023, 200.5 million euros in 2024, 184.4 million euros in 2025 and 175.1 million euros in 2026.

That marks four straight first-half declines. Compared with the 2022 peak, packaged wine imports are down by about 93 million euros, or 34.7%. They are also 23.4% below the level recorded in the first half of 2021. The drop in 2026 was smaller in absolute terms than the declines seen in the previous three years, but it still pushed the category to the lowest level in the series.

Bulk wine has followed a different path, although from a much smaller base. First-half bulk imports were worth 3.9 million euros in 2021, 4.6 million euros in 2022 and 7.9 million euros in 2023. They then slipped to 6.5 million euros in 2024, recovered to 8.8 million euros in 2025 and reached about 9 million euros in 2026. That means the value of bulk imports has more than doubled since 2021, but the increase is still small compared with the 53.4 million euros lost by packaged wine over the same period.

France remained South Korea’s largest wine supplier by value in the first half, with 70.6 million euros in sales, equal to about 38.3% of all wine import spending. French shipments rose 2.6% from a year earlier. France ranked only third by volume, however, at 4.1 million liters, which underlines how strongly it dominates the higher-priced end of the market.

The United States was second by value at 27.6 million euros, down 5.4%, and Italy was third at 23.2 million euros. Together, France, the United States and Italy supplied 121.4 million euros of wine, or about 65.9% of South Korea’s total import bill. Their combined volume was 10.3 million liters, based on 3 million liters from the United States, 3.2 million from Italy and 4.1 million from France.

Spain showed the reverse pattern. It was South Korea’s largest supplier by volume, at 6.3 million liters, up 13.1%, but ranked sixth by value at 13.2 million euros. That amounted to about 22.8% of total imported volume and 7.2% of total spending. Using the rounded figures in the customs tables, Spain’s average value was close to 2.10 euros a liter, compared with about 17.22 euros a liter for France. The data do not break down those gaps by product type, so they do not show how much of the difference came from country pricing and how much came from product mix.

Chile ranked fourth by value at 16.4 million euros, followed by New Zealand at 13.9 million euros. Their volumes were 4.9 million liters and 2.6 million liters, respectively. Australia was seventh by value at 7.5 million euros, followed by Germany at 3.7 million euros, Argentina at 2.7 million euros and Portugal at 2.1 million euros.

The OIVE analysis also shows that Spain was sixth in packaged wine sold to South Korea, with 11.2 million euros in value, down 5.9%, and 3.5 million liters in volume, down 9.3%. In bulk wine, Spain ranked second by value with 2.01 million euros and first by volume with 2.82 million liters.