France loses out to Italy as world’s top wine producer

FRANCE 24

AFP photo

The last few years have been a rocky road for the French wine industry.

Despite France’s reputation for producing the world’s best wine, the country has lost out to both Italy and Spain in exports for the last eight years.

France lost out to Italy in 2011 in terms of production, then got back to top place in 2014. But in 2015 Italy fought back, producing 49 million hectolitres to France’s 47 million.

Changing domestic drinking habits can explain the drop in overall production in France.

According to daily newspaper Le Parisien, the French got through an average of 100 litres of wine per person in 1960. That figure had fallen to 42 litres in 2015.


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