The World’s vineyard area shrinks (a bit), China sprints

The statistics from the OIV always makes for a fascinating read. We start with the area planted with vines. In 2009 the acreage with vines has decreases slightly. Here are some details. The numbers may look surprising. Keep in mind that this is area for grape production, not necessarily destined for wine. You will see why.

- 7.66 M hectares of land is planted with vines in 2009, a slight decrease from 7.8 Mha in 2008
- Europe has the biggest plantings: 58% of the total, but percentage has decreases substantially since the 80s when Europe accounted for almost 70%.
- The biggest increases have come in Asia (from 16% of the total to 21% over that period) and in Americas (10% to 13%)

The biggest plantings can be found in:
1 - Spain, 1.1 Mha (--)
2 - France, 840 kha (--)
3 - Italy, 818 kha (--)
4 - Turkey, 505 kha (--)
5 - China, 470 kha (++)
6 - USA, 398 kha
7 - Iran, 330 kha
8 - Portugal, 243 kha (--)
9 - Argentina, 228 kha (++)
10 - Romania, 206 kha (--)
11 - Chile, 200 kha (++)
12 - Australia, 173 kha (++)
(+ and - indicates increasing or decreasing trend)

- Spain and Turkey have decreased their plantings with almost 100 kha since 2002, France and Italy with around 50 kha
- China, on the other hand, has increased its acreage with almost 100 kha over the same period.

Should the world’s grape growers fear a glut coming from China?