Report
Wine down under
The Australian Wine Industry
Despite the small size of its population, Australia has
emerged as one of the largest producers and exporters
of wine during the past two decades. The country boasts
of several world-class wine producers. Even though
China has put a spanner in the growth of the country’s
wine production and exports Australian wine producers
are optimistic about the medium and long-term growth
of the industry. BREWING AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY
INTERNATIONAL presents an overview of the country’s
Australia ranks fifth in the world in
terms of wine production, behind the
traditional wine-producing countries
France, Italy, and Spain. The total vineyard
area in Australia in 2021 is estimated
to be 146,244 ha, of which South
Australia accounted for 52%, New
South Wales 24% and Victoria 15%.
There are estimated to be 2156 wineries
and approximately 6000 grape
growers across 65 winegrowing regions
in Australia, contributing over
$45 billion annually to the Australian
economy. The total wine-grape crush
in 2021 was 2.03 million tons, of which
Shiraz accounted for 27% and Chardonnay
19%.
Australian wine production in 2020-21
was just under 1.5 billion liters (165 million
9-liter case equivalents), 34 per-
wine sector in this feature.
Australian
wine production
in 2020-21
was just under
1.5 billion
liters.
20 BREWING AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY · 2/2022