Spanish Wine Exports Drop €46.5 Million in Nine Months as Packaged Sales Slump

Spanish wine exports faced a difficult period in September 2025, with official data showing a 10.3% drop in value and a 7.3% decrease in volume compared to the same month last year. According to figures from Spain’s tax agency, analyzed by the Spanish Wine Interprofessional Organization (OIVE), the country exported wine worth €214.2 million and shipped 131.4 million liters during September. This represents a loss of €24.5 million and 10.3 million liters compared to September 2024.

The negative results in September contributed to an overall decline for the first nine months of 2025. From January through September, Spanish wine exports totaled €2.11 billion, down 2.2% from the same period in 2024, while total volume fell by 0.8% to 1.44 billion liters. In absolute terms, this means Spain exported €46.5 million less wine and shipped 11.1 million fewer liters than in the first three quarters of last year.

The data reveal a clear split between packaged and bulk wine exports. Packaged wines—which include still, sparkling, liqueur, frizzante (“aguja”), and Bag-in-Box formats—saw declines in both value and volume, while bulk wines (sold in containers larger than 10 liters) recorded growth on both fronts.

Packaged wine exports fell by 4% in value to €1.69 billion and by 5.7% in volume to 599.4 million liters over the nine-month period. The average price for packaged wines rose slightly by 1.8% to €2.82 per liter, but this was not enough to offset the overall decline.

Within packaged wines, sparkling wines experienced a mixed performance. Total sparkling wine exports dropped by 0.6% in value to €363.9 million and by 3.5% in volume to 106.5 million liters, though the average price increased by 3%. The main driver of this decline was Cava, Spain’s flagship sparkling wine with its own protected designation of origin (DOP). Cava exports fell sharply: value dropped by 6.1% and volume by 13%. Cava accounted for about two-thirds of all Spanish sparkling wine exports by volume and nearly three-quarters by value during this period.

Other types of Spanish sparkling wines performed better, with exports rising by nearly 17% in value and over 20% in volume compared to last year, although their average price slipped slightly.

The United States remained the top market for Spanish sparkling wines, importing €56.7 million worth (+1.1%) and 15.8 million liters (+0.3%) during the first nine months of the year. Belgium followed as the second-largest market, while Germany saw a steep decline—falling from fourth to seventh place in value and from third to seventh in volume.

Still packaged wines also struggled across all subcategories, with total exports falling by 5.2% in value to €1.2 billion and by 6.6% in volume to just under 420 million liters; average prices rose modestly by 1.5%. Wines with DOP led this category but suffered a significant setback: their export value dropped by €40.7 million (-4.6%) and their volume fell by nearly 14 million liters (-7.6%). Despite these losses, DOP still wines maintained the highest average price among all categories at just over €5 per liter.

Varietal still wines saw export values fall by almost 10%, while volumes slipped less than 2%. Wines with protected geographical indication (IGP) declined even more sharply—down over 10% in value and more than 13% in volume.

Liqueur wines were one of the few bright spots among packaged products, with export values rising nearly 5% to €36.9 million and volumes up a similar amount to 7.5 million liters; prices held steady at just under €4.90 per liter.

Bag-in-Box (BiB) wines—sold mainly in containers between two and ten liters—also posted negative results: export values dropped nearly 3%, while volumes fell just over 5%. France became the leading destination for Spanish BiB wines during this period, with strong growth both in value (+50%) and volume (+74%).

For non-sparkling packaged wines as a whole (including still, liqueur, and frizzante), the United Kingdom overtook the United States as Spain’s top export market by value during the first nine months of this year, despite a slight decline (-3.5%). The UK imported €165 million worth of these wines compared to $159 million for the US (-13.9%). In terms of volume, the UK also led with nearly 55 million liters imported (-6.6%), followed closely by Germany.

Bulk wine exports provided some relief for Spanish producers amid declining sales of higher-value packaged products. Bulk shipments grew by nearly 6% in value to €423.5 million and by just over 3% in volume to reach 838 million liters; average prices increased slightly to €0.51 per liter.

Within bulk wine categories, varietal bulk wine performed best: export values rose more than 11%, while volumes increased over 11%. Bulk wine without any indication also grew modestly both in value (+4.6%) and volume (+0.4%). However, bulk IGP wines saw sharp declines—down one-fifth in value and more than one-quarter in volume.

Germany remained Spain’s largest market for bulk wine, accounting for almost one-third of total export volume and nearly as much of total revenue; German imports increased slightly both in value (+4%) and volume (+1%). France was close behind as the second-largest buyer; French imports grew more than three percent in volume and sixteen percent in value compared to last year.

Italy’s purchases of Spanish bulk wine dropped sharply—down almost twenty-two percent in volume and twelve percent in value—though it remained Spain’s third-largest market for bulk shipments.

Other markets showed notable changes: Portugal recovered its position as Spain’s fourth-largest bulk wine customer with modest growth; Côte d’Ivoire became an important destination with increases of more than forty percent both in value and volume; Romania also boosted its imports significantly.

Looking at rolling twelve-month figures through September confirms these trends: total Spanish wine exports fell slightly (-0.5%) to €2.93 billion over that period, while volumes declined more sharply (-1.7%) to just under two billion liters.

The data suggest that while Spain remains one of the world’s leading wine exporters by both value and volume, it faces ongoing challenges from shifting global demand patterns—especially for higher-value packaged products—and increased competition from other producing countries across key markets such as North America and Europe.

Industry analysts point out that rising costs throughout the supply chain may be contributing to higher average prices but are not fully compensating for lost sales volumes or declines among premium categories like DOP still wines or Cava.

Producers are watching closely how these trends develop into late autumn and winter as they plan their strategies for next year’s harvests and international marketing campaigns amid continued uncertainty across global beverage markets.