Us Takes Lead On Wine Consumption

The US has overtaken France to become the world’s largest wine consumer, although Europe as a whole still dominates consumption and production, according to a new report. Figures released by Agrifrance, a division of BNP Paribas Wealth Management, put per capita annual wine consumption in the US at 12 litres. Although many countries have a considerably higher level of average consumption, the 318.9m population of the US means that it has edged ahead of France and Italy. Despite this lead, Europe still accounts for over 50% of global wine consumption, even if this region has led a worldwide slide of 13.8% since 1980 to hit a total of 239 million hectolitres in 2013.