ROME – Wine exports from Italy fetched a record value of 7.1 billion euros in 2021, an increase of over 12 percent in one year, according to a report from the Qualivita Foundation using Istat data.

 During 2020, Italian wine exports fell by 2.2 percent, but 2021's increase of 12.4 percent has comfortably made up for this.

 Europe buys 60 percent of Italy’s wine exports, having paid 4.28 billion euros last year, 8.9 percent more than in 2020. There has been a strong recovery in the American continent, where 2.23 billion euros worth of wine was exported, up 16.7 percent in a single year, in contrast to the 4.3 percent drop in 2020. Asian markets too, which saw a decrease of 12.6 percent in 2020, grew 22.5 percent in 2021, with exports exceeding half a billion euros.

 In terms of individual countries, the United States tops the chart, having bought in excess of 1.72 billion euros worth of Italian wine, making up 24.2 percent of the Mediterranean peninsula’s exports. Germany follows closely behind, having purchased 1.13 billion euros worth last year. Next is the UK with 743 million euros, a moderate increase of 5.1 percent on last year, then Switzerland with 415 million euros, up 8.8 percent.

 The report notes that Russia, with 149 million euros in exports, was the twelfth-largest destination market for Italian wine in 2021, up 91 percent in five years. Italy is one of Russia’s top wine suppliers, providing 30 percent of its total wine imports, followed by France with 17 percent. It also dominates in the sparkling wine category with peaks of 60 percent of the market share of imported wine.

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