The OIV has released its statistical thematic focus 2025, titled “The Global Trade in Wine: Role and Relevance of Re-exportation Hubs.” This new analysis offers a first comprehensive estimate of global wine re-exports and explains how these flows shape today’s increasingly interconnected wine economy.
Re-exportation as a key driver
As the wine trade becomes more complex, re-exportation has emerged as a key driver of market access and value creation, allowing wines to reach new consumers through specialised logistics and bottling hubs. Understanding these mechanisms is essential to grasping how the global wine market truly operates. Re-exportation reveals the real geography of wine flows, distinguishing between where wines are produced, traded and consumed. It also highlights how value is generated beyond production, through activities such as storage, bottling and redistribution, helping ensure a more flexible and adaptive global market.
According to OIV data, the global wine trade now accounts for 47% of world consumption. Between 2018 and 2023, re-exports represented around 13% of total wine exports, or 14 million hectolitres valued at €4.6 billion. The report identifies several types of re-export hubs, from Europe’s traditional trading centres, such as the United Kingdom, which remains a major platform for redistribution, to Asia’s premium gateways like Singapore, where high-value wines are channelled to regional markets. It also highlights emerging regional actors such as Canada and Angola, which are helping to connect neighbouring markets and diversify trade routes.
Re-exportation has become a structural element of the global wine economy, shaping not only how wine moves but how it creates value and reaches consumers. As global trade continues to evolve, understanding these flows is essential to anticipate changes in demand, improve market transparency and strengthen the resilience of the international wine sector.
This study aims to deliver, for the first time, a reliable and accurate estimate of wine re-exports at the global level, focusing on key hubs where re-exporting activity is concentrated. The report is organised into three main chapters, each offering a distinct perspective on the dynamics of the global trade in wine. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the global wine market, highlighting recent trends, trade flows, and the underlying factors shaping the industry. Chapter 2 delves deeper into the re-export segment, examining its role in international trade and presenting a robust methodological framework to evaluate the significance of wine re-exports. Finally, Chapter 3 focuses on detailed case studies of specific re-export hubs, offering practical insights, illustrative examples, and an overview of the economic and logistical factors driving re-export activity.
To summarise, this study highlighted some key insights into the complexities of global wine trade, emphasising the crucial role of distribution in shaping global market dynamics. These insights include:
• Complex Trade Flows: Total wine exports reported by producers give an accurate overview of global trade volume but hide the indirect routes taken by many shipments. Some of this wine is counted multiple times as it moves between intermediary countries before reaching final consumers, underscoring the importance of distinguishing re-exports to fully understand trade flows.
• Distribution’s Central Role: In a sector where production traditionally receives the most attention, distribution is a critical yet often underrated factor in wine’s economic sustainability. Access to robust distribution networks influences market reach and profitability, impacting both grape producers and wine manufacturers. While wine production is undoubtedly essential, the ability to effectively distribute it to reach the final consumer is equally, if not more, critical to the industry’s economic viability.
• Non-producing Distributors: A significant share of the trade in wine is controlled by distributors rather than producers. As the analysis of case studies reveals, many re-export hubs are dominated by independent distributors who capitalise on strategic positioning and logistics to supply regional markets. This separation between production and distribution highlights the structural complexity of the global wine economy.
In conclusion, re-exports represent a significant and often underexamined segment of the international wine trade. Their growing role introduces distinct distribution dynamics that warrant deeper attention. Strengthening and optimising these distribution networks—particularly in response to shifting consumption patterns and global trade realignments—will be essential for ensuring resilience, expanding market access, and securing long-term growth in the wine sector.
Full report available here.
For further information from the OIV’s Press & Communication Department
Email: press@oiv.int
