The increase will put Britain in the top spot worldwide for imports of sparkling wine, pushing Germany, the previous leader, into third place after the US.
In 2011 the UK’s top five suppliers of sparkling wine were France (37 million bottles) Spain (35 million) Italy (19 million) Australia (8.5 million) and South Africa (2.5 million).
UK consumers will also double the amount of English sparkling wine they drink, though the total of 5.7 million bottles (480,000 cases) will be miniscule compared to continental wine-makers’ production. Overall, consumption of English sparkling wine will have risen nearly 342% in the ten years from 2007 to 2016.
However, consumption of red, white and rosé still wine in the UK is in long-term decline. By 2016 sales of still wine will fall 4.7% to 1.44 billion bottles (120 million cases) from 1.5 billion bottles (125 million cases) reveals Vinexpo. Over the 10 years from 2007 the decline will be more than 10%.
For the first time, consumption of white wine is forecast to overtake red wine. By 2016 white still wine will account for nearly 45% of all still wines drunk, while Red wine will fall to just over 42%. Drinking of Rosé wine, which saw a rise 6% in recent years, is forecast to fall 2.5% in the next five years.
Source: Vinexpo
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