What EU country exported the most alcoholic beverages in 2024?

France exported the most alcoholic beverages from the European Union in 2024, with total exports of €12.1 billion, or 41% of the EU total, according to Eurostat data.

Wine accounted for around two thirds of France’s exports last year (66.7%, or €8.1 billion), while spirits and liqueurs accounted for 31.8% (or €3.8 billion).

The second biggest exporter of alcoholic beverages from the European Union last year was Italy, which exported some €6.0 billion, or 20% of the bloc’s total exports.

Spain followed next, with €2.5 billion in exports (8.3% of the EU total), followed by the Netherlands with €2.3 billion (7.6% of the total, Germany (€1.6 billion, 5.3%), and Ireland (€1.5 billion, 5.0%).

Total exports in 2024

In total, the EU exported €29.8 billion worth of alcoholic beverages to non-EU countries in 2024, which was a 10.9% increase on 2019.

In terms of the biggest export categories, meanwhile, wine was the dominant export, accounting for 56.2% of the total (€16.8 billion), followed by spirits and liqueurs at €8.9 billion (29.7%), and beer at €3.4 billion (11.5%), Eurostat noted.

Smaller shares were observed for cider, perry, saké and other fermented drinks (€0.5 billion), as well as vermouth and aromatised wines (€0.3 billion).

Main importers

As regards the top destinations for alcoholic beverage exports from the EU, the United States dominated, with a total of €8.9 billion worth of imports, including €4.9 billion in wine and €2.9 billion in spirits.

The United Kingdom followed with €4.9 billion, of which wine was the biggest segment, with China and Canada each receiving €1.6 billion in exports. Read more here.