Fewer Italians say Salute

Italy is drinking less wine.

Analysis by the Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv)-Ismea Observatory based on figures from data specialist Nielsen found that  the country’s supermarkets, stores and distributors sold just under one billion bottles of wine in 2023

This was 3.1 per cent less than in 2022, with an 8 per cent dip over the five years between 2018 and 2023.

According to the Observatory, 2023 was “a complicated year” owing to changes in post-pandemic consumption habits and generalised price rises.

Red wines took the hardest hit, with a 15 per cent slump over the past five years although 19 per cent more people bought sparkling wines and Prosecco in 2023 than they did in 2019, with sales of 139 million bottles.  Rose enjoyed a 17 per cent increase over this same period.

But although the Italians might be drinking less wine than previously, the Observatory also found that they were becoming more discerning.

Overall sales of wine with DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) label fell by just two percent while white wine saw a 3 per cent increase since pre-pandemic 2019.

The Observatory also found that people buying online ordered more DOP and TGI (Typical Geographical Indication) wines – which accounted for 75 percent of the total purchases of non-sparkling wines.

Online purchases have increased threefold since 2019, the Observatory noted, although internet orders had declined by 21 per cent over the past two years, compared with the high of 2021.