Rioja releases staggering growth figures

The Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja has announced growth in its foreign markets across 130 countries.

Exports totalled more than 108m litres, up +4.39% from 2016 with Russia (+39.71%) and China (+17.31%) performing the best.

Sales were also significantly up in the UK (+3.21%), Canada (+6.75%), the US (+5.80%), Switzerland (+4.21%) and Holland (+2.46%).

Rioja whites grew significantly above the market average (+16%), surpassing growth figures of other regions specialising in whites.

White wines currently make up close to 8% of total Rioja sales, compared to 5% five years ago. In foreign markets, sales of white Rioja grew by 25%.

Rioja red wine consumption remains stable. Sales of Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva stood close to 157m litres, accounting for 63.23% of total red wine sales.  

According to the Spanish Wine Market Observatory, Rioja exports amount to 31% of the total Spanish D.O. wine exports. In terms of value, however, they account for 40%, as the average price for Rioja is 49% higher than the average for the rest of Spanish D.O. wines and four times as much as the average price of exported Spanish wines.