Vineyards covered about 7.1 million hectares worldwide in 2024, while global wine production reached 226 million hectolitres. The latest figures show a broad sector under pressure: vineyard area declined 0.6% year over year, production fell 5% from 2023, and consumption fell 3.3%.
Contents
- Global vineyard area and wine flows
- The leading vineyard countries
- European vineyard holdings
- Grape varieties and vine age in the EU
- What European vineyards are used for
- California vineyard acreage and production
- California grapes, districts, and prices
Global vineyard area and wine flows
The OIV State of the World Vine and Wine Sector in 2024 reported 7.1 million hectares of vineyard surface worldwide. Its Statistical Brief gives the more precise total as 7,066 thousand hectares. That global area was down 0.6% from the previous year.
The production picture was weaker than the land total alone might suggest. Global wine production was 226 million hectolitres in 2024, the lowest level in over 60 years, and 5% below 2023. Global wine consumption was 214 million hectolitres, down 3.3% from 2023 and reported as the lowest since 1961 if confirmed by the OIV.
International trade remained substantial. Export volume held at 99.8 million hectolitres in 2024, while export value reached €36 billion, down 0.3%. The average global wine export price was €3.60 per litre. Wine was consumed across 195 countries, giving the market a wide geographic footprint even as total consumption declined.
The OIV had 51 member countries after China’s accession. The organisation said its members represented 85% of the world’s planted vineyard surface. That membership figure and coverage statement describe the OIV’s institutional reach; they are not a separate estimate of global vineyard area.
The leading vineyard countries
The OIV Statistical Brief places Spain first among the listed vineyard countries, with 930 thousand hectares in 2024. France had 773 thousand hectares, China 753 thousand, and Italy 722 thousand. Türkiye had 402 thousand hectares, followed by the United States at 385 thousand.
The next group included Argentina with 200 thousand hectares, Romania with 187 thousand, India with 185 thousand, and Portugal with 173 thousand. The country figures are vineyard surface measurements for 2024, not wine-production totals.
| Country | Vineyard surface, 2024 | Share of world vineyard surface |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | 930 thousand ha | 13% |
| France | 773 thousand ha | 11% |
| China | 753 thousand ha | 11% |
| Italy | 722 thousand ha | 10% |
| United States | 385 thousand ha | 5% |
Spain, France, China, and Italy together represented the largest listed shares: 13%, 11%, 11%, and 10%, respectively. The United States accounted for 5% of world vineyard surface. These percentages are the OIV’s reported shares and are rounded, so they should not be used to reconstruct the exact global total through arithmetic.
European vineyard holdings
Eurostat’s Vineyards in the EU report measured 2.2 million vineyard holdings in 2020. Holdings were highly concentrated by area even though many were small. Only 3.2% of EU vineyard holdings were larger than 10 hectares, yet those holdings accounted for 59.2% of all EU vineyard area. At the other end of the scale, 83.3% of holdings had less than 1 hectare.
The average EU vineyard holding was 1.4 hectares. Romania’s average was just 0.2 hectares, while Croatia, Greece, Slovenia, and Cyprus each averaged about 0.5 to 0.6 hectares per holding. France had a much larger average holding size at 10.5 hectares, and Luxembourg’s average was 4.6 hectares.
Romania had 0.8 million holdings, or 37.9% of the EU total. Spain had 0.5 million holdings and Italy had 0.3 million; together, those two countries represented 35.3% of EU holdings. The distribution shows why a country’s vineyard area and its number of holdings can tell very different stories.
The structure changed between 2015 and 2020. EU vineyard area was relatively stable over that period, changing by -1.1%, but the EU lost 257,000 vineyard holdings. Holdings under 1 hectare fell by 226,000. Italy’s vineyard area increased by 38,000 hectares, while Spain’s fell by 30,000 hectares, France’s fell by 10,000, and Portugal’s fell by 25,000.
Regional concentration was also visible in land use. In 2020, vines occupied 21.3% of utilised agricultural area in Languedoc-Roussillon and 20.1% in La Rioja. Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Madeira each had about 15% of utilised agricultural area planted to vines. Vienna recorded 11.8%, Attika 9.4%, and Rheinland-Pfalz 9.2%.
Grape varieties and vine age in the EU
EU vineyards contained more than 500 main vine varieties in 2020. Main varieties covered 91.1% of all EU area planted with vines, while small regional varieties covered 8.9%. Italy alone had 96 main vine varieties.
Red wine varieties covered 1.5 million hectares across the EU, compared with 1.3 million hectares for white wine varieties. Other-colour or unspecified varieties covered 0.1 million hectares. Among main red varieties, Tempranillo tinto represented 13.8% of the area, Merlot noir 11.5%, and Garnacha tinta 9.5%. Among main white varieties, Airen accounted for 14.9%, Trebbiano toscano 9.9%, and Chardonnay blanc 7.8%.
Merlot noir and Chardonnay were each planted across 14 EU Member States. The variety figures describe shares or country presence within the Eurostat classification, while the hectare figures describe broad colour groups; they are different measures and should not be combined as if they were one ranking.
Vine age was another defining feature. Across the EU, 36.7% of vines were older than 30 years in 2020, and 41.3% were between 10 and 29 years old. Younger plantings made up the remainder reported by Eurostat: 4.5% were less than 3 years old and 17.5% were 3 to 9 years old.
The oldest-vine shares were especially high in Bulgaria, where 68.8% of vines were older than 30 years; Romania, at 65.7%; and Cyprus, at 64.7%. These are 2020 age measurements and do not establish the current age distribution in 2026.
What European vineyards are used for
The principal designated use of EU vines in 2020 was production for PDO wines, which accounted for 65.3% of vines. Another 17.1% were planted for PGI wines, while 13.2% were dedicated to table wine.
National patterns differed sharply. Table wine represented 72.1% of vines in Romania, 38.7% in Bulgaria, 24.3% in Italy, and 20.1% in Portugal. In Greece, 37.4% of vines were dedicated to raisins. These figures describe the reported use categories for vines, not the share of finished wine sold under each label.
California vineyard acreage and production
USDA/NASS data provide a detailed 2024 snapshot of California’s grape industry. California had 783,000 acres of grapes, with a yield of 6.21 tons per acre and total grape production of 4,865,000 tons. The value of that production was $5,585,716,000, equivalent to an average of $1,150 per ton.
Processing grapes dominated the tonnage: 3,991,800 tons valued at $3,891,708,000. Fresh market grapes totaled 873,200 tons and were valued at $1,694,008,000. These categories are reported separately by USDA/NASS and should not be treated as interchangeable with wine-grape acreage.
The California Grape Acreage Report 2024 recorded 82,867 acres of table grapes and 457,322 acres of wine grapes. Within the wine-grape total, white wine grapes covered 166,683 acres and red wine grapes 290,639 acres.
Bearing status adds another layer of detail. Table grapes included 80,261 bearing acres and 2,606 non-bearing acres. Wine grapes included 438,159 bearing acres and 11,525 non-bearing acres. White wine grapes had 158,378 bearing acres, while red wine grapes had 279,781 bearing acres.
USDA/NASS mailed the acreage survey to approximately 6,500 grape growers in October 2024. The report said detailed data reflected vine removals from more than 25,000 acres during the previous 12 months. It also noted that significant acreage harvested in 2024 was later removed and therefore excluded from the detailed data. Those qualifications matter when comparing acreage with harvest totals.
California grapes, districts, and prices
The California Grape Crush Final 2024 report identified Chardonnay as 17.8% of the state’s grape crush and Cabernet Sauvignon as 15.4%. Raisin grape varieties represented 0.8%, while table grape varieties represented 1.8%.
Prices varied dramatically by district and variety. District 13 recorded 907,220 tons at an average price of $338.64 per ton. District 4, covering Napa County, had the highest reported average price at $6,938.96 per ton. District 3, covering Sonoma and Marin counties, averaged $2,927.18 per ton.
| California measure | 2024 reported figure |
|---|---|
| Chardonnay average price | $1,056.63 per ton |
| Cabernet Sauvignon average price | $2,181.93 per ton |
| French Colombard average price | $306.60 per ton |
| Pinot Noir average price | $1,728.36 per ton |
The variety-level prices show a wide spread within California’s crush. Chardonnay averaged $1,056.63 per ton, Cabernet Sauvignon $2,181.93, French Colombard $306.60, and Pinot Noir $1,728.36. These are 2024 average prices reported in the crush data; they are not retail bottle prices or universal values for every vineyard.