Italy expected to remain top wine producer in world

PARIS

Italy is expected to enjoy a good 2025 harvest and clinch the world’s leading producer label once again, according to estimates presented by Italy’s Agriculture Ministry and its wine union.

Italian winegrowers are expected to produce 47 million hectoliters of wine and grape must, an increase of 8 percent compared to 2024, and a return to the average of previous years.

Italy has been the top producer over the past five years, including last year, except for 2023, when France took its place. 2023 was a difficult year for Italy in which production, the lowest ever since the post-war period, was hit by extreme weather and fungal diseases.

Production is expected to be particularly high in southern Italy, up 19 percent, Sicily and Puglia, where heavy spring rains replenished groundwater reserves and helped crops withstand an early and hot summer.

The northeast had a more difficult year with changeable weather and disease, and Veneto, the peninsula’s leading wine-producing region, remains at average production levels.

Overall, Italy is regaining a lead over France, the world’s second largest producer, and expected to produce 37.4 million hectolitres. France’s production was particularly affected by the hot weather in August.

Spain is expected to be in third place, at 36.8 million hectolitres.

Export demand slowed by 4 percent in the first five months of 2025, while demand also slowed in Italy, with the exception of sparkling wines. The wine industry has been particularly concerned about the impact of U.S. tariffs.