World Wine Trade Increases 11% on Chinese Demand

World wine trade rose 11 percent by value to a record last year as imports into China surged, Italian researcher Istituto di Servizi per il Mercato Agricolo e Alimentare said.

The global trade expanded to 22.7 billion euros ($29.9 billion) from 20.5 billion euros in 2010, the Rome-based group wrote in a report on its website today. The U.S. was the biggest buyer of foreign wine, followed by the U.K.

Rising incomes in China are boosting demand for luxury goods such as wine as well as meat and dairy products. The country has become the biggest wine market by volume outside Europe and the U.S., with consumption jumping to 17 million hectoliters (449 million gallons) last year, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine said last month.

“At this pace China, which has only realized part of its potential, could soon get closer to the two major wine importers,” Ismea wrote. “Only five years ago it was in 20th place among wine-importing countries. Today it’s in the top-five list of big spenders.”

China’s wine purchases jumped 72 percent to 1.04 billion euros from 604 million euros in 2010, Ismea reported. The volume of wine shipped in rose 28 percent to 3.66 million hectoliters, the researcher wrote.