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In 2024, significantly less champagne was sold again. According to preliminary data from November, the annual amount is expected to be around 271 million bottles, about ten percent lower than in 2023. This places it at the level of 1997 and is the lowest amount since 2002. The value is around 5.8 to 5.9 billion euros, five percent lower than the previous year. After the record year of 2022 (326 million bottles), sales have decreased by almost a fifth in the past two years.
85 percent of champagne is sold in the EU, the UK, and the USA. France remains the largest market, but even here, around 15 million fewer bottles were purchased in the first ten months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2019. As data from the International Wine and Spirits Record (IWSR) from the USA and the UK show, sales figures in both countries have fallen significantly. Thus, champagne could not benefit from the overall growth of the sparkling wine market. More and more consumers are turning to Prosecco, English sparkling wine, and Crémant. Even in France itself, foreign sparkling wines and other AOP sparkling wines are increasingly replacing champagne. Therefore, the forecasts for sales before the Christmas holidays are very cautious.
David Chaitillon, president of the Union des Maisons de Champagne (UMC), has already indicated that this year's yield limit of 10,000 kg/ha is 500 kg/ha above actual sales and 1,000 kg/ha above the projected number. The yield set for 2024 corresponds to about 283 million bottles. This means that the UMC expects a further decline to 255 million bottles. Chaitillon stated that allowed yields would need to be reduced in the future if sales do not increase. According to him, consumers have reached a price ceiling. At the same time, he reminded that the champagne bottles held in stock were also "very expensive to produce" due to difficult conditions. Therefore, the profit margins of the houses have not increased in line with selling prices.
(al / Source: wine-searcher)