As a direct consequence of the confinement and closure of restaurants due to the health crisis, France has recorded a drastic drop in its exports to its traditional markets, which are the United States, Japan, China, etc.
If the Covid-19 crisis is obviously the main responsible for this vertiginous fall, we must also take into account other factors such as the American taxation imposed by Trump and the downturn in the Chinese market, which however seems to be recovering since the start of the year 2021.
According to data provided by Bussiness France, France exported 13.6 million hectoliters of wine for 8.7 billion euros in turnover, i.e. drops of 4.9% in volume and 10.8% in value compared to 2019. This translates into a drop in exported volumes of 702,500 hl. for a value of almost € 1 billion.
The two big losers of confinements are Champagne and Bordeaux. Even more than other wines, sparkling wines from Champagne (- € 634 million) suffer from the covid pandemic which has led to the closure of places of conviviality (restaurants, weddings, salons, etc.) and stifles the festive spirit conducive to consumption of Champagne wines, a drop of 60%.
Also affected, the marketing of Bordeaux wines (- € 288 million) was disrupted by the fall in American imports and the sharp drop in volume of the Chinese market, ie -30%.
The only notable growth concerns wines packaged in BIB (bag in box) (+ 13.4% in volume and + 7.1% in value).