France exported € 14 billion worth of wines and alcohols in 2019, up 5.9%, the Federation of Exporters (FEVS) announced on Wednesday, a result nonetheless “ trompe-l'oeil ” given the additional fees 25% taxes imposed at the end of the year. The Federation thus warned against a “ particularly uncertain commercial environment ” on the first three markets (United States, United Kingdom, China) which alone represent more than 50% of the global turnover of exporters.
Read also: The keys to understanding French wine victim of Trump
The government reported in early February that wine exports to the United States fell 44% in November after the 25% tax came into effect in mid-October. In total, 194.6 million cases of 12 bottles (+ 0.7%) left the territory. The balance of trade increased by 8.5% to 12.7 billion euros, said the FEVS in a press release, wines and spirits thus confirming " their place of second trade surplus behind the aeronautical sector ".
In detail, in volume, French winegrowers exported 139 million cases of 12 bottles of wine. The largest increase came from Burgundy wines (+ 8.1%), sparkling wines (+ 7.9%) and Loire wines (+ 6.1%), as well as wines without a geographical indication (+ 5.3%). In terms of value, Burgundy wines also recorded the largest increase (+ 10%) last year, followed by those from the Loire Valley (+ 8.6%) and those from Provence (+ 8%) . Champagnes, whose sales volume barely took off abroad last year (+ 0.9%), improved their valuation well (+ 7.5%).
In general, the value of all wines appreciated, except sparkling wines (-10.2%) and still wines without geographical indication and without grape variety (-1.5%). In value, Bordeaux wines remained at their level of last year at 2.084 billion euros (-0.1%) while export volumes fell by 4.4% over the year. In the liquor sector, the volume of bottles sold abroad remained almost stable at 53 million (-0.1%), but their value appreciated to 4.66 billion euros (+8.8 %), mainly thanks to cognac.
Sales down for champagne, but sales up
On the champagne side, sales fell 1.6% in 2019 to 297.5 million bottles, but the overall turnover of the sector increased by 2% to 5 billion euros, announced Wednesday the Champagne Committee, the former Interprofessional Committee for Champagne wines. For the second consecutive year, exports exceeded French consumption of champagne, reaching 52% of volumes, with 155.5 million bottles, thanks to an increase of 0.8%, while the French market fell again by 4 %, to 141.5 million bottles sold. In terms of exports, the European Union is on the rise again (+ 1%) while the rest of the world has seen its growth slow (+ 0.7%).
Read also: Gafa tax: the standoff between France and the United States is not over
The good results of 2019 " must not be mistaken: international trade and political tensions have weighed heavily on exports from French wine and spirits companies and herald a difficult year 2020 " underlined Antoine Leccia, president of FEVS. In the last quarter of 2019 alone, the entry into force of the 25% tax on still wines of less than 14 degrees of alcohol imposed in October " led to a 17.5% drop in French exports ", according to the federation .