Champagne: a new sales record in 2022

The bubble feels good. Champagne sales topped a record six billion euros for the first time in 2022, driven by increased volumes and targeting a wealthy clientele, the Champagne Committee said in a statement on Wednesday.

In 2021, the total export value was 5.5 billion euros.

In physical terms, sales increased last year by 1.6%, to 326 million bottles. Results that turn the page for 2020, a bleak year in which the pandemic reduced sales to around 244 million bottles.

More vintage cuvees

According to David Châtillon, President of the Union of Champagne Houses and Co-Chair of the Champagne Committee, sparkling champagne “naturally accompanied consumers around the world who rejoiced at the end of self-isolation, rediscovered the taste for the holiday. , trips.

These speeches “reward our efforts to ensure that Champagne remains an exceptional wine,” welcomed Maxime Tubar, President of the General Union of Vine Growers and another Co-Chair of the Champagne Committee.

“Cuvées are becoming more and more vintage, they appreciate typicality, terroir, they sell for more, they go further and further,” he notes.

“The French market is not expanding”

From 187.5 million bottles, exports increased by 4.3% year-on-year, while sales in France decreased by 138.4 million bottles (-1.7% compared to 2021). The share of exports in total sales now exceeds 57% compared to 45% ten years ago.

The United States remains the first export market, points out Maxime Tubar, who recalls that “the French market is not expanding”. According to him, the cessation of exports to Russia did not affect, because it is “a small market, less than two million bottles.” Interprofessional also expresses “cautious” optimism for 2023 given the global geopolitical and economic context.