by Joel B. Payne
Table wine consumption in Germany reached a new high: 20.6 litres per head in the twelve month period to July 2007, according to statistics provided by the German Winegrowers’ Association and released by the German Wine Institute in
Mainz.
In total, 16.9 million hectolitres of domestic and foreign still wines were consumed, up almost a half a litre over the same period last year. Over the past decade, annual wine consumption has increased by 2.5 litres per person. The German Wine Institute’s managing director, Monika Reule, welcomes this positive development, particularly the fact that "German wine is increasingly popular in the domestic market - its home”.
The latest statistics make clear that 80% of these sales are household purchases. Only 20% of that total is consumed in restaurants.
In addition, the average German also drinks 3.7 litres of sparkling wine, bring the total to 24.3 litres per person for a total of the equivalent of 2,666m 0.75 litre bottles.
This volume puts the Germany in fourth place among the world’s largest consumer markets for wine. France is first (33 million hl), followed by Italy and the USA.
