Bloomberg, the global business news agency, is reporting that World wine trade rose 11 percent by value to a record last year as imports into China surged.
Quoting an Italian research group, Bloomberg said the global wine trade expanded to 22.7 billion euros ($29.9 billion) from 20.5 billion euros in 2010. The U.S. was the biggest buyer of foreign wine, followed by the U.K.
“(China) has become the biggest wine market by volume outside Europe and the U.S., with consumption jumping to 17 million hectolitres (449 million gallons) last year, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine said last month,” the agency reported.
“At this pace China, which has only realised part of its potential, could soon get closer to the two major wine importers,” Bloomberg quoted the research. “Only five years ago it was in 20th place among wine-importing countries. Today it’s in the top-five list of big spenders.”
“China’s wine purchases jumped 72 percent to 1.04 billion euros from 604 million euros in 2010, Ismea reported. The volume of wine shipped in rose 28 percent to 3.66 million hectolitres, the researcher wrote.”