OIVE's analysis of INE data shows revenue growth slowing to 0.9%, driven by services rather than product sales, while falling costs lifted operating profit.
Spanish wineries closed 2024 with their highest turnover on record, but the increase came with fewer companies, lower capital investment and a drop in product sales. The analysis by the Spanish Interprofessional Wine Organization (OIVE), based on the National Statistics Institute's (INE) Structural Business Statistics, places the sector's turnover at €8,566.8 million, 0.9% above 2023.
Record revenue, but growth is slowing
The rise equates to €76.6 million in one year, a modest figure compared with previous years. After the decline recorded between 2018 and 2020, the sector enjoyed four consecutive years of growth: €7,829.5 million in 2021, €8,271 million in 2022, €8,490.2 million in 2023 and €8,566.8 million in 2024. The latest figure is 17.2% higher than in 2020 but only 1.8% above 2018.
The slowdown is visible in the annual growth rates: around 7.1% in 2021, 5.6% in 2022, 2.7% in 2023 and 0.9% in 2024. The amount added each year also shrank, from €519.3 million in 2021 to €76.6 million in the latest fiscal year.
From a long-term perspective, the sector is far larger than three decades ago. Turnover stood at €2,559.1 million in 1993, and OIVE estimates it has more than tripled since then, at an average annual growth rate of 4%.
Services, not product sales, drove the result
Growth was not uniform across activities:
- Product sales fell 0.9%, from €7,716.5 million to €7,650.4 million.
- Merchandise sales rose 0.3% to €600.8 million.
- Service revenue jumped 81%, from €174.4 million to €315.7 million.
The €141.3 million increase in services more than offset the €66.1 million loss in product sales. Services now represent about 3.7% of total revenue: still small, but decisive for the 2024 outcome.
Total operating income, a distinct metric, reached €8,858.1 million, up 0.4%. Operating subsidies rose 1.3% to €124.7 million, while other operating income fell 20.5% to €138.7 million and work performed on fixed assets dropped 20.8% to €27.9 million.
Lower costs boost profitability
Expenses evolved more favorably. Total operating expenses fell 4% to €8,399.4 million, from €8,750.6 million in 2023. The €351.2 million reduction broke a three-year streak of increases.
The biggest drop came from raw materials and other supplies, down 5.9% from €4,865.9 million to €4,578.2 million, or €287.7 million less. This item accounted for 53.4% of revenue, compared with 57.3% in 2023. After climbing from €3,983.2 million in 2020 to €4,865.9 million in 2023, raw material consumption is now even 7.2% below the €4,933.3 million of 2018, although 2024 turnover already exceeds that year's.
Other notable movements:
- Total consumption and work performed fell 8.5% to €5,139.3 million.
- Consumption of goods decreased 14% to €385.3 million, and work done by other companies fell from €303.7 million to €175.8 million.
- External services grew 2.9% to €1,574.6 million.
- The change in inventories fell 79.5%, from €237.1 million to €48.7 million. This reflects the change during the year, not total inventory value.
As a result, gross operating profit (excluding depreciation) rose 29.5%, from €727.6 million to €941.9 million, an improvement of €214.3 million. That exceeds 2021 (€914.5 million) and 2022 (€915.8 million) but remains below 2018 (€992.3 million). Operating profit reached €458.7 million, versus €72.3 million the previous year. Gross operating profit is not equivalent to net profit.
Fewer companies, stable employment
The financial recovery coincided with a slight reduction in the number of producers. In 2024, 3,988 companies were operating, 50 fewer than in 2023 (-1.2%), dropping the sector back below 4,000. Recent figures show fluctuations: 4,071 in 2019, 3,839 in 2020, 4,038 in 2021, 3,994 in 2022 and 4,038 in 2023. Still, there are 279 more than in 2015 (3,709). Average turnover per company rose to about €2.15 million, from €2.10 million in 2023.
Employment remained almost unchanged at 32,144 people, 39 fewer than a year earlier (-0.1%). Behind that stability are two opposing trends: paid employment rose 2.2% to 30,210, while unpaid employment fell 26.4% to 1,934. Hours worked by paid staff increased 2.1% to 51.062 million. Compared with 2015, when 24,413 people were employed, the sector has 7,731 more workers.
Personnel expenses continued to rise, reaching €1,186.2 million. Wages and salaries grew 4.6% to €927.1 million, and social security contributions increased 5.9% to €258.6 million. Since 2015, when the total was €762.5 million, personnel costs have risen about 55.6%.
Exports account for just over half of sales
Foreign sales were a key factor. Wineries generated €4,348.2 million outside Spain, an increase of €85.6 million (2%), while domestic sales declined 0.2% to €4,218.6 million. Exports thus represented about 50.8% of revenue, against 49.2% for the domestic market, and exceeded domestic sales by €129.6 million.
The Spanish market stayed flat after the previous year's recovery (€3,808.8 million in 2022 and €4,227.6 million in 2023). It remains roughly 21.7% below the series peak of about €5,387 million.
- European Union: sales grew 5% to €1,332.2 million, €63 million more than in 2023, about 15.6% of total revenue. After three consecutive years of growth since €1,174.8 million in 2021, the figure is still far from the €1,658.5 million of 2019. OIVE notes that past fluctuations may be linked to occasional increases in bulk wine exports to EU countries.
- Third countries: €3,016.1 million, up 0.8% from €2,993.3 million, about 35.2% of total revenue. The series jumped from €1,531.9 million in 2020 to €2,642.9 million in 2021 and €3,214.1 million in 2022, then fell 6.9% in 2023 before partially recovering in 2024. According to OIVE, this growth reflects greater market diversification.
Investment declines despite better results
The improved results were not matched by higher investment. Net investment in tangible assets fell 7.2% to €444.1 million, after €478.5 million in 2023 and €524 million in 2022, a cumulative drop of about 15.2% over two years. It represented roughly 5.2% of turnover, compared with 5.6% the year before, and is 30.7% below the €641.2 million invested in 2015.
By category:
- Land: down 45.4% to €21.4 million
- Machinery: down 12.7% to €90.4 million
- Technical facilities: down 4.1% to €97.3 million
- Other tangible assets: down 7.1% to €132.8 million
- Construction: up 11.8% to €102.3 million
- Intangible assets: up 169.4%, from €12.5 million to €33.7 million
Source: Vinetur