For many, France – and its citizens – are indelibly linked to wine. But a new report indicates the French are drinking less of their signature alcoholic beverage than before, a finding that aligns with new consumption habits observed in the country, beverage industry outlet Just Drinks reports.
According to the Observatoire Français des Drogues et des Tendances Addictives (OFDT), wine sales by volume fell by 4.2 percent in France between 2022 and 2023. Spirits sales volumes slid by 3.9 percent over the same period, while beer sales volumes saw a smaller decline of 2.6 percent.
OFDT’s report also noted that adult alcohol consumption dropped by 13 percent from 2021 to 2023, while consumption among 17-year-olds went down by 31 percent between 2017 and 2022. It described these shifts as a “reconfiguration of the way in which the French consume alcohol.”
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“Consumption is less often daily and more often marked by occasional heavy drinking behaviour, while consumption preferences are increasingly often focused on beers and less often on wine,” the report said.
Nathalie Estribeau, export director at French wine cooperative Vignobles Foncalieu, told Just Drinks that consumption habits were “changing rather quickly” in France, and noted that red wine sales were particularly challenging in the domestic market.
Figures from Statista show that, for those aged 15 and older, annual wine consumption fell from an average of 69.5 litres per person in 2003, to 47 litres per person in 2022. Wine sales still made up 52 percent of total alcoholic drinks sales volumes in France in 2023, with beer sales accounting for 25 percent, and spirits comprising 21 percent.
