Spain’s wine export sector ended the twelve-month period from June 2025 to May 2026 with a clear contraction, as both export value and volume declined.
According to data from the Spanish State Tax Administration Agency, analyzed by the Spanish Interprofessional Wine Organization, Spanish wine exports generated €2.794 billion during the period, down 5.4% year on year. Export volume fell even more sharply, decreasing 8.6% to 1.753 billion liters.
The latest figures underline a challenging environment for Spanish wine exporters. Volume has remained below the 1.8 billion-liter threshold for the second consecutive year, while wineries and distributors have faced weaker demand across several important categories.
Higher prices cushion the decline
The contraction in volume was more pronounced than the decline in export value, indicating that higher average prices and changes in the composition of exports helped partially cushion the impact.
Spain’s average export value increased from approximately €1.54 to €1.59 per liter, representing an increase of around 3.5%. However, this improvement was insufficient to compensate for the loss of approximately 165 million liters and €159.5 million in export revenue.
The development illustrates one of the key dynamics affecting European wine trade: stronger unit values can protect turnover to a certain extent, but cannot fully offset a substantial decline in physical demand.
Sparkling wine loses momentum
Spanish sparkling wine exports also followed the broader downward trend. Between June 2025 and May 2026, sparkling wine generated €484.8 million, a 7.1% decline, while volume fell 8.6% to 142.3 million liters. The average export price increased slightly, by 1.7% to €3.41 per liter.
The category has been losing momentum since reaching approximately €542 million in export revenue in 2024. The decline that began during 2025 continued into the first months of 2026, suggesting that the weakness is becoming more persistent rather than representing a temporary fluctuation.
For Spanish sparkling wine producers, this is particularly relevant given the category’s relatively high value per liter compared with bulk exports.
PDO bottled wine remains valuable but contracts
Bottled wine with a protected designation of origin (PDO) was another major contributor to the decline. Exports in this category reached approximately €1.143 billion, down 7.4%, while volume declined 9.6% to 217 million liters. With the category accounting for around 41% of Spain’s total wine export value, its performance has a significant influence on the overall sector.
There was, however, some resilience in pricing. The average export price rose 2.5% to €5.27 per liter, the highest average value among the major categories analyzed.
This combination—lower volumes but higher prices—suggests that Spanish producers are retaining value in premium and protected-origin segments even as international demand weakens.
Varietal wines and bag-in-box defy the wider trend
Not all categories experienced declines. Bottled varietal wines recorded modest growth during the twelve-month period. Export value increased 1.4% to €164.1 million, while volume rose 6.4% to 92.6 million liters.
The trade-off was a decline in the average price, which fell 4.7% to €1.77 per liter. In other words, growth was driven primarily by increased volume rather than higher-value sales.
Bag-in-box wine also performed better than the overall market. Exports of wines shipped in containers between two and ten liters reached €89 million, an increase of 3.9%, while volume rose 5.2% to 71.6 million liters.
The average price declined slightly, by 1.2% to €1.24 per liter.
The renewed growth of bag-in-box exports is noteworthy. After a relatively stable period throughout 2023, 2024 and the first half of 2025, the category began gaining momentum from June 2025 onward. Its development reflects continuing interest in alternative packaging formats, particularly where affordability, convenience and logistics are important considerations.
The decline intensified in early 2026
The situation became considerably more challenging during the first five months of 2026.
Between January and May, Spain exported wine worth €1.0847 billion, representing an 8.9% decline compared with the same period of 2025. Export volume dropped by 18.5% to 681.1 million liters.
The decline represents a loss of approximately €105.5 million in value and 154.5 million liters in volume.
The figures are particularly significant because the January–May volume decline represents approximately 94% of the total volume loss recorded over the twelve-month period. In value terms, the €105.5 million decline during these five months represents roughly two-thirds of the total year-on-year reduction.
This indicates that much of the deterioration reflected in the twelve-month figures occurred at the beginning of 2026.
Bulk wine is the main source of volume losses
Bulk wine was the principal driver of the contraction during January–May.
Exports of bulk wine fell 25.8% in volume to 376.2 million liters, while value declined 17.4% to €209.5 million. Spain exported approximately 130.8 million fewer liters of bulk wine, representing almost 85% of the total volume lost by the Spanish wine sector during those five months.
In value terms, the category lost approximately €44.2 million, accounting for almost 42% of the sector’s total revenue decline.
The figures highlight the structural difference between Spain’s volume and value markets. Bulk wine represented more than 55% of total exported volume between January and May, but contributed just over 19% of export revenue.
Interestingly, its average price increased 11.3% to €0.56 per liter, demonstrating once again that higher unit prices were unable to compensate for the scale of the volume contraction.
Wine without a geographical indication accounted for a substantial share of this decline, losing approximately 101.1 million liters and €33.2 million compared with the previous year.
Bottled wine proves more resilient
Bottled wines experienced a significantly smaller contraction than bulk wine during January–May.
The combined volume of still, sparkling, fortified, semi-sparkling and bag-in-box wines reached nearly 305 million liters, down 7.2%. Revenue decreased 6.5% to €875.1 million, while the average price increased slightly, by 0.7% to €2.87 per liter.
Within this group, bottled still wine generated €638.6 million, down 6.6%, while volume declined 8.6% to almost 214 million liters.
The comparatively smaller decline reinforces the importance of bottled wine in Spain’s export strategy. While bulk wine remains critical for volume, bottled wines generate substantially more value per liter and offer producers greater opportunities to defend margins through origin, quality and brand positioning.
United Kingdom and United States remain key bottled-wine markets
The United Kingdom was the largest destination by value for Spanish bottled still wine during January–May 2026.
Spanish exports to the UK generated €87.5 million, although purchases declined 7.6% compared with the same period of 2025.
The United States ranked second, with €87.3 million, but recorded a more significant 11.6% decline.
The performance of these two major markets demonstrates that the contraction is not limited to one geographic region. Spanish exporters are facing weaker demand across important established destinations, making market diversification increasingly relevant.
Germany leads bulk wine imports
Germany remained Spain’s leading destination for bulk wine during the first five months of 2026, purchasing 117.8 million liters worth €60.9 million.
France followed with 103.6 million liters and €53.9 million.
Portugal moved into third position after increasing its purchases by 8% in volume and 22.4% in value. The contrast with Italy was striking: Italian purchases fell 58.3% in volume and 57.4% in value.
These divergent performances show how differently individual markets are responding to the current wine trade environment. While some traditional buyers are significantly reducing imports, others continue to expand purchases, creating opportunities for exporters able to adapt their commercial strategies and product mix.
What the Spanish figures mean for the wider wine market
Spain’s latest export figures reflect several broader trends affecting international wine trade.
First, volume pressure remains a major challenge. The decline of 8.6% over twelve months—and almost 19% during January–May—shows that the contraction is accelerating in some segments.
Second, higher prices are providing only partial protection. Spain’s overall average export price increased by around 3.5%, but the improvement could not compensate for the loss of demand.
Third, the figures demonstrate the growing importance of product mix and value positioning. PDO bottled wine commands significantly higher prices than bulk wine, while categories such as varietal bottled wine and bag-in-box are showing greater resilience.
Finally, the data underline the importance of market diversification. The contrasting performances of Germany, France, Portugal, Italy, the UK and the US suggest that Spanish exporters cannot rely equally on all traditional markets.
For Spanish wine producers, the challenge is therefore not simply to recover lost volume. The more strategic question is how to maintain international relevance while protecting value, developing resilient categories and identifying markets where demand remains comparatively strong.
With global wine consumption under pressure and competition among major exporting countries intensifying, Spain’s ability to balance volume, pricing, premiumization and market diversification will be increasingly important in determining the direction of its wine export sector.
Source: Vinetur