January the 4th, 2025 – Croatian wine prices appear to be following the other insanely high prices in this country, as they’re currently 75% higher than the EU average.
As Sinisa Malus/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Croatian wine is the first in the entire European Union (EU) in terms of the growth of prices. According to Eurostat’s latest data, prices have risen by as much as 52 percent in four years, and that trend is continuing. In Cyprus, the price of wine went up by 48 percent, and in neighbouring Hungary by 45 percent.
Croatian wine prices have shot up, but this country isn’t the only location for that. The entire immediate area has seen wine prices on an upward trajectory. Currently, the list includes both Slovenia and Romania, where the wine prices have risen by 32 percent in the last four years.
Of particular concern is the fact that Croatian wine prices have risen seven and a half times more compared to the EU average, where the price of this drink has increased by just seven percent in the period between 2020 and 2024.
There’s currently no data for 2024 yet, but the Financial Agency’s (Fina) data show that Croatian winemakers had a very good year in 2023. Businesses engaged in wine production in 2023 achieved a net profit of 5.7 million euros, which is an annual increase of 141.6 percent.
According to data from processed annual financial reports, in the wine production sector of in 2023, 275 businesses operated in the grape sector. They employed 1,542 people, which is a 1.9 percent increase in the number of employees compared to the previous year.
These wine businesses in Croatia generated 141.9 million euros in total revenue, an increase of 12. 9 percent compared to the previous year. Their total expenses also increased by 9.9 percent, to 134.4 million euros. Otherwise, this year could be a very challenging year for Croatian winemakers, and further Croatian wine price increases are certain.
The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) estimates that global wine production this year will fall to its lowest level since 1961. The 29 largest wine producers, who together account for 85 percent of international production, are expected to see a drop of 227 to 235 million hectoliters.
Wine production is expected to be two percent lower than in 2023 and 13 percent lower than the average over the past decade, the French news agency AFP reported. “As was the case back in 2023, extreme or atypical weather events are having a key impact on global production. There are early frosts, heavy rainfall and prolonged droughts, all of which dramatically affect vineyard productivity,” the organisation wrote.
Production in France, the world’s largest wine producer in 2023, is expected to fall by 23 percent this year. Meanwhile, production in neighbouring Italy is expected to recover somewhat. That country will regain first place in the ranking of the largest wine producers, seeing it scoot ahead of France.
According to the OIV, only a few countries can expect average or above-average production this year due to more favourable weather conditions. These are the USA and several Central and Eastern European countries, including Hungary, Georgia and Moldova.
