Below, I have compiled some of the export data from recent reports. We can start with the New Zealand Winegrowers Annual Report for 2024, which shows the export value of the NZ wine for the past 10 years.
Clearly, the export value free on board (FOB) increased until 2020, by circa one-third from 2015 onwards, and then plateaued for the next three years. There was a burst in 2023, and a drop back in 2024. This burst was apparently an up-tick in value (up) but not volume (down) ⎯ this contrasting situation (basically, an increase in the average price of the wine) was discussed in: New Zealand’s wine export dynamics: a mixed picture in 2023.
We can look at the export data to date in 2025 by looking at the New Zealand Wine Exports by Country for the 12 months to June 2025. We can then compare this to the previous 12 months. I have extracted the data for the top nine export countries in the next table, with the countries in order of FOB. The total volume for 2025 was 289 million litres, and $2.1 billion value (for the 113 export countries listed in the database).
In terms of exports, the top three countries made up 78% of the volume, and 72% of the value. Not unexpectedly, these countries are three of the major English-speaking wine drinkers ⎯ the Americans alone took nearly 100 million litres of New Zealand wine (22 million gallons).
Interestingly, the Americans and Australians are prepared to pay more ($/litre) than are the British (see the table). In terms of volume change from 2024 to 2025, the Australians have gone down whereas the other two have increased; but all three countries have gone down in terms of value. That is, the British have increased the volume but decreased the value, thus now going for notably cheaper wine than before.
In contrast, Canada, China, Germany, Korea and France have notably increased both their volume of import and its value, from 2024 to 2025. Furthermore, the Chinese and Canadians are prepared to pay notably more for their New Zealand wine than are the other countries, followed by the Irish and the Koreans.
So, globally the New Zealand wine exports went up 5% in volume and down 1% in value, from 2024 to 2025. This seems to continue the plateau in wine exports shown in the first graph (at the top of the page).
