The climate crisis around the world has caused global wine production to fall to a 62-year low this year. Drought and bad weather caused a big drop in grape harvest.
The International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) announced that worldwide wine production in 2023 will probably be about 7 percent lower than last year. This marks the worst production level since 1961. The OIV attributed the low production levels to bad weather conditions such as frost, heavy rainfall and drought. According to the BBC, the figures are based on information from countries representing 94 percent of global production.
Rain, storms and drought
Production is down in almost every country in the European Union, which produces more than 60 percent of the world’s wine. According to the OIV, low yields were caused by rain and storms in some countries and drought in others.
14 percent in Spain, 12 percent Italy
In Spain, yields fell by 14 percent, and in Italy, where dry weather hit this year’s grape harvest, by 12 percent. France, the biggest competitor of these countries, has managed to keep its production stable. Thus, it overtook Italy and became the world’s largest producer.
Also in Türkiye grapes have also been badly affected by drought and mildew disease this year, with yields falling by almost 50 percent.
The southern hemisphere producers in a difficult situation
In Chile, the largest wine producer in the southern hemisphere, where yields fell by 20 percent due to drought and uncontrollable fires, producers are in a difficult situation. The harvest was similarly low in Australia, where production fell by a quarter compared to last year.
While weak global production is bad for the industry as a whole, the OIV says that lower global demand could mean that the overall market remains relatively stable and prices do not fall.