Have you ever wondered which countries enjoy wine the most? Let’s take a look at the official numbers from the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) and find out just who stands on the top step of the podium. We’ll also compare these figures to iDealwine’s data, discovering which countries buy the most wine on our website and which regions are their favourites.
Global wine consumption in 2024
In its publication on the global viticultural situation in 2024, which was published in April 2025, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) addressed the current consumption of wine in each country around the world. It estimated that global consumption amounted to 214.2 million hectolitres, which is a slight decrease of 3.3% compared to 2023.
And the leading consumer of wine in the world is…
The United States of America! With 33.3 hectolitres consumed in 2024, the country hasn’t conceded its top step of the podium for several years. Even last year when it recorded a drop of almost 6%, it remained unbeatable. It should be said that the USA is a huge country with 333.3 million inhabitants. This equals 0.1 hectolitres – or 10 litres of wine – per person per annum but, of course, this figure will be much higher as we didn’t exclude people under the legal drinking age (as we should have).
Europe represents over half of the global wine consumption
In 2024, countries within the European Union consumed 103.6 million hectolitres which is, in fact, a decrease of 2.8% when compared to 2023 and 5.2% fall on the 5-year average. Nevertheless the 2024 figure still amounts to 48% of global wine consumption. And when you add countries that do not form part of the EU but are on the European continent nonetheless, this figure depasses the 50% mark.
France is the second largest consumer of wine in the world
It will likely not come as too much of a shock to you to learn that France – the country that has fine wine as one of its national symbols and where viticulture is so interwoven within its culture – ranks as the second largest consumer of wine in the world and the leading European country. In 2024, it consumed an estimated 23 million hectolitres, although this is a 3.6% decrease when compared with 2023. With a population of 68 million inhabitants, the average works out at 0.34 hectolitres person or 34 litres of wine (again this figure will in fact be higher as the population below drinking age has not been removed from these calculations).
Italy, the largest producer of wine in the world, sits in third place when it comes to wine consumption. Its population is estimated to have enjoyed 22.3 million hectolitres of wine in 2024, which is on par with the country’s consumption in 2023 (+0.1%).
The top 5 is rounded off by Germany, whose population savoured 17.8 million hectolitres in 2024, and the United Kingdom, which consumed 12.6 million hectolitres.
The highest consumers of wine in the world by country
United States of America (33.3 million hectolitres)
France (23 million hectolitres)
Italy (22.3 million hectolitres)
Germany (17.8 million hectolitres)
United Kingdom (12.6 million hectolitres)
Spain (9.9 million hectolitres)
Russia (8.1 million hectolitres)
Argentina (7.7 million hectolitres)
Portugal (5.6 million hectolitres) – up 1 place on last year
China (5.5 million hectolitres) – down 1 place on last year
Australia (5.3 million hectolitres)
Canada (4.6 million hectolitres)
South Africa (4.3 million hectolitres)
Netherlands (3.2 million hectolitres) – up 1 place on last year
Brazil (3.1 million hectolitres)- down 1 place on last year
But note that these rankings would change if these figures were scaled to the population size of each country.
At iDealwine, France remains far out in head as the biggest purchaser of wine
Here are the rankings for the countries that bought the most on the iDealwine website in 2024 (listed in terms of value purchased). France remains in the lead with a value nearly three times that of the country in second place, Hong Kong. But besides the preponderance of France, the other nations are fairly well balanced.
- France
- Hong Kong
- Italy
- USA
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Germany
- Portugal
- Belgium
- Poland
What wines are people drinking in these countries?
Customers in France have a penchant for Rhône Valley wines with Guigal and Château des Tours taking gold and silver place on the podium of the estates with the highest value sold in 2024. They are joined by the Bordeaux property, Château Haut Marbuzet in third place. And when it comes to French customers’ favourite regions, we can see that they are Burgundy, Bordeaux and the Rhône.
In second place Hong Kong, customers seem to love Burgundy, buying the likes of Georges Roumier, Coche-Dury, Ramonet and Méo-Camuzet as well as Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley.
Italy’s wine enthusiasts turn to Burgundy, Bordeaux and Champagne the most when buying their wines with Sylvain Pataille, Drappier and Gavenat being firm favourites.
As for the rest of the top 10, some countries’ prefered regions mirror what we see every year in the iDealwine Barometer. Burgundy, Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley are the top 3 regions for people living in the USA and Singapore. People in Belgium also like these three regions but the order of the first two are inverse; it goes Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône Valley for them.
Changing things up a bit is South Korea whose second favourite region is Champagne, behind Burgundy and ahead of Bordeaux. For wine enthusiasts in Germany and Portugal, Bordeaux comes in first place followed by Burgundy and Champagne. Poland also likes these three regions with Burgundy coming in first place, Bordeaux second and Champagne third.
