1329.0 - Australian Wine and Grape Industry, 2002  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 29/01/2003   
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MAIN FEATURES

INTRODUCTION

Throughout 2001-02 favourable seasonal conditions were generally experienced which assisted the continued strong performance of the Australian wine and grape industry. For the fifth consecutive year record levels were achieved for all the major grape-growing and winemaking indicators in the table below. Exports of Australian produced wine were a major highlight, exceeding 400 million litres in volume and $2,000 million in value for the first time. Domestic sales of Australian produced wine recorded a slight increase on 2000-01 and were exceeded for the first time by wine exports.

WINE AND GRAPE INDUSTRY, Statistical summary - 2001-02


% Change from
2000-01
Area of bearing vines (ha)
143,373
9.8
Total grape production (t)
1,753,888
13.4
Fresh grapes crushed (t)
1,605,846
12.8
Beverage wine production (million L)
1,195.2
13.5
Beverage wine inventories (million L)
1,570.1
14.0
Domestic sales of Australian wine (million L)
385.3
0.1
Domestic sales value of Australian wine ($m)
1,946.3
6.3
Exports of Australian wine (million L)
418.4
23.7
Exports of Australian wine ($m)
2,105.2
20.2
Imports of wine (million L)
14.5
13.4
Imports of wine ($m)
115.6
25.3

Source: Sales of Australian Wine and Brandy by Winemakers (cat. no. 8504.0);
ABS data available on request, Wine Statistics Survey, 2001-02; Wine and Spirit Production Survey, 2001-02; Inventories of Australian Wine and Brandy 2001-02; Vineyards Survey, 2002.

BEVERAGE WINE TRADE
GRAPH - BEVERAGE WINE TRADE

Source: Sales of Australian Wine and Brandy by Winemakers (Cat. no. 8504.0);
ABS data available on request, Wine Statistics Survey; Wine and Spirit Production
Survey, Inventories of Australian Wine and Brandy Survey.


VITICULTURE

Estimates from the Vineyards 2002 collection show that the season 2002 was another record year for Australia's grape growers, with 158,594 hectares of vines being cultivated. The total area of vines bearing grapes increased by 10% to 143,373 hectares while the total area of vines currently not bearing grapes decreased by 14% to 15,221 hectares.

There was a record 1,753,888 tonnes of grapes harvested in 2002, a 13% increase on the 2001 harvest. Red grape varieties comprised 61% of both the total area of vines and the total bearing area. For the second consecutive year red grape production (893,131 tonnes) surpassed white grape production (860,757 tonnes), reinforcing shifts in consumer preferences. A record 1,514,501 tonnes of grapes were harvested for winemaking, an increase of 9% over the previous year's harvest. The production of grapes for drying rose by 69% to 152,863 tonnes while the harvest of table and other grapes also rose, by 34% to 86,524 tonnes.

GRAPE PRODUCTION AND INTENDED USAGE
GRAPH - GRAPE PRODUCTION AND INTENDED USAGE

Source: ABS data available on request, Vineyards Survey.


The net increase in area planted under vines for 2001–02 (derived from vines planted and vines lost during the year) was 3,890 hectares, an increase of 21% from the 2000–01 figure of 3,221 hectares. Gains occurred in both the red grape and white grape varieties with red grapes gaining 2,399 hectares and white grapes gaining 1,491 hectares. For red grape varieties the highest gain in area was recorded for Shiraz with an additional 1,156 hectares, which represents 48% of the total gain in area of red grapes. This was followed by Cabernet Sauvignon with 519 hectares (22%). The net gain in area of white varieties (1,491) was almost totally driven by an additional 1,495 hectares of Chardonnay which offset net losses in area of other white varieties. The largest net change in area occurred in South Australia (SA) where 2,543 hectares (65% of the total) were gained. This represented a gain in red varieties of 1,690 hectares (66%) and a gain in white varieties of 854 hectares (34%).

South Australia remains the principal red grape-growing State with 51% of total red grape production and 53% of the red grapes used for winemaking. Victoria (Vic.) produced 38% of all white grapes followed by New South Wales (NSW) with 29% of the total white grapes produced in 2002. Queensland (Qld) (12,375 tonnes) recorded a 65% increase in total grape production while Tasmania (Tas.) (3,148 tonnes) was the only state to record a decrease (37%), despite a 34% increase in bearing area. The three largest wine-grape producing zones (as defined in the Australian Geographical Indications, refer to note 9 of the Explanatory Notes) contributed 68% of the total wine-grape production. These zones, as in 2001 are, the Lower Murray zone of South Australia (419,719 tonnes), the Big Rivers zone of New South Wales (321,809 tonnes) and the North West Victoria zone (282,734 tonnes).

VINE PLANTING, Net Change by State
GRAPH - VINE PLANTING, Net Change by State

Source: ABS data available on request, Vineyards Survey.


STRUCTURE OF THE WINE AND GRAPE PRODUCTION INDUSTRIES

For the 2002 vintage there were 398 locations around Australia (Aust.) which crushed 50 tonnes or more of grapes owned by 350 winemaking businesses, compared with the 2001 vintage which had 351 locations owned by 306 winemaking businesses. Almost one-third of all locations are in South Australia and these accounted for 46.5% of the Australian wine grape crush. Victoria had 22.1% of the total number of locations with 14.7% of the total wine crush, while New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory (ACT) also had 22.1% of all locations but with 34.6% of all grapes crushed and Western Australia (WA) had 19.6% of locations with 3.9% of the crush.

The 350 winemaking businesses are diverse in size, with 198 of these businesses crushing 50–400 tonnes, having a combined crush of 31,806 tonnes (2.0%), while 152 businesses crushing more than 400 tonnes crushed a total of 1,574,040 tonnes (98.0%) of grapes. Compared with the 2001 vintage the number of businesses crushing 50–400 tonnes increased by 22.2% and their quantity of grapes crushed rose by 18.1%. Those crushing more than 400 tonnes increased by 5.6% in number and 12.7% in the quantity of grapes crushed. The 138 smallest businesses crushed less than 1% of all grapes and averaged 106 tonnes each, while the 13 largest businesses crushed 71.9% of all grapes and averaged 88,850 tonnes each.

An alternative view of the wine manufacturing industry, together with the grape-growing industry is available from the 2001 Census of Population and Housing. It identified 14,480 persons whose main job was in the manufacturing or blending of wine and 15,629 persons whose main job was in grape-growing. This excludes casual workers such as grape pickers and other seasonal workers not working in those industries in the week prior to the Census. It also excludes people who worked in wine and grape production as a second job.

Employees comprise 90.6% of all persons employed in wine manufacturing, whilst that category comprise 82.2% across all industries and only 62.7% of employment within the grape-growing industry.

At the time of the Census, the proportion of persons working full-time in the grape-growing (71.2%) and wine manufacturing (78.0%) industries was higher than for all industries (64.6%).


LABOUR FORCE, SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPLOYED PERSONS - 2001

Grape-growing
Wine manufacturing
All industries
%
%
%

Status in employment

Employee
62.7
90.6
82.2
Employer
15.0
4.6
7.0
Own account worker
20.7
4.3
10.1
Contributing family worker
1.7
0.6
0.7
Full-time
71.2
78.0
64.6
Part-time
26.9
20.7
32.4
Not stated
1.9
1.3
3.0
Annual individual income

Less than $15 600
21.9
11.9
17.6
$15 600-$25 999
32.7
23.2
20.6
$26 000-$51 999
33.1
47.3
41.3
$52 000 AND OVER
9.6
15.8
18.2
Not stated
2.7
1.9
2.4

Source: Census of Population and Housing, 2001.


There was a higher proportion of low income earners, (workers with an annual income of less than $15,600) in the grape-growing industry (21.9%) than in wine manufacturing (11.9%) and for all industries (17.6%). At the upper end of the income ranges, 9.6% of workers whose main job was in the grape-growing industry earned $52,000 or more compared with 15.8% in the wine manufacturing industry. Both figures are lower than that for all industries (18.2%).

Post-secondary educational qualifications were less common among workers in both the grape-growing and wine manufacturing industries than the average across all industries. Of those employed in grape-growing, 7.3% had a degree or higher compared with 15.3% in wine manufacturing and 18.7% for all industries.

The grape-growing and wine manufacturing industries have a higher male to female ratio than for all industries. Grape-growing workers tend to be older with 42.8% aged 45 years and over compared with 32.6% of wine manufacturing workers and 34.3% for all industries.

The grape-growing and wine manufacturing industries have a higher proportion of Australian-born workers compared with all industries.


SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPLOYED PERSONS - 2001

Grape-growing
Wine manufacturing
All industries
%
%
%

Level of post-secondary qualification

Degree or higher
7.3
15.3
18.7
Other qualification
21.9
26.9
28.0
No qualification
65.5
52.6
47.4
Inadequately described or not stated
5.4
5.1
5.9
Sex

Males
70.3
65.8
54.8
Females
29.7
34.2
45.2
Age (years)

15-24
14.2
14.4
16.8
25-34
19.2
27.0
23.5
35-44
23.8
25.9
25.4
45-54
23.1
21.2
22.5
55 or more
19.7
11.5
11.7
Birthplace

Australia
81.0
83.1
74.2
Overseas main English-speaking countries
6.2
9.4
10.7
Southern Europe
3.5
1.0
1.3
Other Europe
3.9
2.3
3.8
Other
5.3
4.1
10.0

Source: Census of Population and Housing, 2001.


WINE PRODUCTION AND GRAPES CRUSHED

Winemakers who crushed in excess of 50 tonnes of grapes reported a combined total of 1,605,846 tonnes of grapes crushed in 2001–02, an increase of 12.8% or 181,896 tonnes on 2000–01. The quantity of red grapes crushed increased by 13.3% to 909,584 tonnes while white grapes crushed increased by 12.1% to 696,262 tonnes. Similar to 2000–01, the larger winemakers (those crushing more than 400 tonnes of fresh grapes) crushed 98.0% or 1,574,040 tonnes of the 2001–02 total.

For the fifth consecutive year these larger winemakers reported another record, with 1,174.1 million litres of beverage wine produced, up 13.5% on the previous record volume of 1,034.8 million litres in 2000–01. Production of unfortified wine accounted for 96.6% of the increase, up 13.2% to 1,150.9 million litres. Fortified wine production rose by 25.9% to 23.2 million litres, increasing its 1.8% share of total beverage wine
production in 2000–01 to 2.0% in 2001–02.

BEVERAGE WINE PRODUCTION
GRAPH - BEVERAGE WINE PRODUCTION

Source: ABS data available on request, Wine and Spirit Production Survey.


Beverage wine production in 2001–02 increased in all states except Tasmania, with the three major wine-producing states accounting for 96.5% of total production. New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory recorded the largest increase of beverage wine production in both volume and percentage terms, up 26.7% (83.5 million litres), followed by South Australia which increased by 7.2% (37.6 million litres) and Victoria up 10.5% (16.7 million litres).

BEVERAGE WINE PRODUCTION, By state
GRAPH - BEVERAGE WINE PRODUCTION, By state

Source: ABS data available on request, Wine and Spirit Production Survey.


WINE INVENTORIES

Inventories of Australian beverage wine owned by winemakers reached another record high of 1,570.1 million litres at 30 June 2002. As with previous years, red/rosé table wine continued to dominate inventories, rising 19.9% (152.8 million litres) to 919.9 million litres and representing 58.6% of total beverage wine inventories.

INVENTORIES OF AUSTRALIAN WINE-At 30 June(a)
GRAPH - INVENTORIES OF AUSTRALIAN WINE-At 30 June(a)

(a) Break in data indicates a break in series, new definition used in 1996. See paragraph 11 of the Explanatory Notes.
Source: ABS data available on request, Inventories of Australian Wine and Brandy Survey.


Table wine inventories rose 16.4% to 1,426.5 million litres at 30 June 2002. Of all table wine inventories red/rosé table wine (64.5%), exceeded white table wine (35.5%) compared with 62.6% and 37.4% respectively at 30 June 2001.

INVENTORIES OF AUSTRALIAN TABLE WINE-At 30 June(a)
GRAPH - INVENTORIES OF AUSTRALIAN TABLE WINE-At 30 June(a)

(a) Break in data indicates a break in series, new definition used in 1996. See paragraph 11 of the Explanatory Notes.
Source: ABS data available on request, Inventories of Australian Wine and Brandy Survey.


BRANDY AND GRAPE SPIRIT

In 2001–02 the production of Australian brandy decreased by 34.8% to 417,160 litres of alcohol with South Australia producing the total quantity. Brandy production has now decreased for six consecutive years, falling 61.4% overall.

A sharp fall of 22.2% in domestic sales of Australian brandy to 701,000 litres of alcohol occurred in 2001–02. This follows the increase in 2000–01 to 901,000 litres of alcohol which reversed the unbroken downward trend existing since 1980–81. Exports of Australian brandy rose 26.3% to 24,000 litres of alcohol, while the volume of imported brandy cleared for home consumption increased 14.5% to 577,000 litres of alcohol.

DOMESTIC SALES, IMPORTS AND CONSUMPTION OF BRANDY
GRAPH - DOMESTIC SALES, IMPORTS AND CONSUMPTION OF BRANDY

Source: Sales of Australian Wine and Brandy by Winemakers (Cat. no. 8504.0).


DOMESTIC WINE SALES

Domestic sales of Australian wine in 2001–02 were 385.3 million litres, a slight increase of 0.5 million litres on the record level of the previous year. The rise was a result of an increase in sales of red/rosé table wine (4.5 million litres) which offset the reduced sales of white table wine (down 0.3 million litres), fortified wine (down 1.8 million litres), sparkling wine (down 1.3 million litres) and other wines (down 0.8 million litres).

DOMESTIC SALES OF AUSTRALIAN WINE BY WINEMAKERS
GRAPH - DOMESTIC SALES OF AUSTRALIAN WINE BY WINEMAKERS

Source: Sales of Australian Wine and Brandy by Winemakers (Cat. no. 8504.0).


The quantity of table wine sold in glass containers of less than two litres has increased each year since 1990–91 and represents an increasing proportion of total table wine sold. In 2001–02, 148.6 million litres of table wine was sold in glass containers less than two litres, comprising 73.3 million litres of red/rosé wine and 75.3 million litres of white wine. The amount of table wine sold in soft packs increased to 178.9 million litres, 2.9 million litres more than the previous year. Other containers accounted for 2.1 million litres, down from 4.7 million litres in 2000–01.

DOMESTIC SALES OF AUSTRALIAN RED AND WHITE TABLE WINE
GRAPH - DOMESTIC SALES OF AUSTRALIAN RED AND WHITE TABLE WINE

Source: Sales of Australian Wine and Brandy by Winemakers (Cat. no. 8504.0).


INTERNATIONAL TRADE

The strong growth in Australian wine exports evident since the mid-1980s continued in 2001–02 as Australia exported 418.4 million litres of wine, valued at $2,105.2m. Since 1986–87 the trade balance for wine in both quantity and value terms has consistently been in surplus (exports greater than imports), which in turn has generally been increasing over time. The record levels of wine exported in 2001–02 represented an increase of 23.7% in volume and 20.2% in value over the previous records set a year earlier.

IMPORTS OF WINE AND EXPORTS OF AUSTRALIAN WINE
GRAPH - IMPORTS OF WINE AND EXPORTS OF AUSTRALIAN WINE

Source: Sales of Australian Wine and Brandy by Winemakers (Cat. no. 8504.0).


The European Union continued to be the major regional destination for Australian wine exports in 2001–02. It accounted for 253.3 million litres (60.5% of total exports by volume), valued at $1,077.6m (51.2% of total exports by value). Exports to Northern America increased by 27.2 million litres (or 32.2%) to 111.7 million litres and were valued at $780.2m (37.1% of total exports by value). The United Kingdom was the major country of destination for Australian wine, taking 201.8 million litres, (up 23.8% from 2000–01) followed by the United States of America which received 93.1 million litres (an increase of 33.6% on the previous year).

DESTINATION OF AUSTRALIAN WINE EXPORTS-2001-02(a)
GRAPH - DESTINATION OF AUSTRALIAN WINE EXPORTS-2001-02(a)

(a) Proportion of total wine exports.
Source: ABS data available on request, International Trade database.


GRAPE AND WINE PRICES

The grape price index is calculated by using the base weighted movement in prices for each of the varieties included in the survey. The index does not allow for price movements caused by a change in the mix of varieties. Movements in the prices paid for wine grapes are presented in the graph below and in table 27.

PRICE INDEX OF GRAPES USED IN WINE PRODUCTION, Change on previous vintage
GRAPH - PRICE INDEX OF GRAPES USED IN WINE PRODUCTION, Change on previous vintage

Source: ABS data available on request, Price Indexes of Articles Produced by Manufacturing Industries.


The wholesale price index of total wine recorded a 2.8% increase in 2001–02, while the price received by winemakers for table wine and fortified wine recorded an increase of 2.5%. The wine group retail price index for 2001–02 increased 2.9%, equal with the general, all groups consumer price index increase.

SELECTED PRICE INDEXES, Change on previous financial year
GRAPH - SELECTED PRICE INDEXES, Change on previous financial year

Source: ABS data available on request, Price Indexes of Materials Used in Manufacturing Industries,
Consumer Price Index.


WINE CONSUMPTION

Apparent per capita consumption of wine has been relatively unchanged in recent years, with levels of 20.4 litres in 1999–2000, rising to 20.5 litres in 2000–01 and returning to 20.4 litres in 2001–02. This contrasts to the movements of the past decade and to the longer term trend which has seen per capita consumption of wine climb from levels of less than 3 litres in the late 1930s.

PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF WINE
GRAPH - PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF WINE

Source: Sales of Australian Wine and Brandy by Winemakers (Cat. no. 8504.0).


The most current details of household expenditure show that during 1998–99 Australian households spent an average of $5.28 per week on wine. Households in the Australian Capital Territory spent the most with $8.88 and those in Tasmania the least with $3.52. Victorian households spent the highest proportion of their total weekly alcohol expenditure on wine (33%), while Northern Territory (NT) households spent the lowest (15%). From 1993–94 to 1998–99 there was a 40% increase in weekly expenditure on wine nationally.

AVERAGE WEEKLY HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE, Alcoholic Beverages
GRAPH - AVERAGE WEEKLY HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE, Alcoholic Beverages

Source: Household Expenditure Survey, Australia: Detailed Expenditure Items, 1998-99 (Cat. no. 6535.0).


WORLD COMPARISONS

Of the countries for which 2000 data are available, Australia's ranking for area of vines planted (0.140 million hectares) was twelfth, a rise of four places from the previous year. Spain (1.174 million hectares) and France (0.917 million hectares) had the greatest areas under vine. Australia was ranked eleventh in terms of total grape production and seventh in terms of wine grape production. Italy and France occupied the top two rankings in both of these categories. With respect to the yield achieved, Australia was placed in seventh position with an average of 9.4 tonnes per hectare. France (5,754.1 million litres) and Italy (5,162.0 million litres) were the largest producers of wine with Australia occupying seventh placing, producing 859.2 million litres.

PRODUCTION OF WINE, Principal Countries
GRAPH - PRODUCTION OF WINE, Principal Countries

Source: Dutruc-Rosset 2002.


The countries exporting the largest volumes of wine in 2000 were Italy, France, Spain, the United States of America and Australia, accounting for 74.0% of total world wine exports. Australia exported a higher proportion of its production than any other leading exporting nation with 35.3% of production being exported (up from 25.4% in 1999). The next highest proportion was achieved by Italy with 33.0% of production. Australia's per capita consumption of wine in 2000 remained steady at 20.4 litres, well below the leading countries of France (57.0 litres), Italy (54.7 litres) and Portugal (50.2 litres).

EXPORTS OF WINE, Principal Countries
GRAPH - EXPORTS OF WINE, Principal Countries

Source: Dutruc-Rosset 2002.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Much of the ABS data used in this publication were sourced from various ABS collections. In some cases more detailed data, which were previously available on request, were used. In the list of ABS publications below, a catalogue number is quoted whenever possible to enable users to access explanatory information about various datasets. Further inquiries about these and other more detailed data, can be made either to Merv Leaker (Adelaide (08) 8237 7536) or to the contact officer named in the specific publications.


ABS PUBLICATIONS

Apparent Consumption of Foodstuffs, Australia, cat. no. 4306.0.
Consumer Price Index, Australia, cat. no. 6401.0.
Household Expenditure Survey, Australia: Detailed Expenditure Items, 1998–99, cat. no. 6535.0.
International Merchandise Trade, Australia, cat. no. 5422.0.
International Trade Price Indexes, Australia, cat. no. 6457.0.
Manufacturing Industry, Australia, cat. no. 8221.0.
Producer Price Indexes, Australia, cat. no. 6427.0.
Sales of Australian Wine and Brandy by Winemakers, cat. no. 8504.0.


ABS SURVEYS AND DATABASES

Export Price Index.
Import Price Index.
International Trade database.
Manufacturing Industry, 1999–2000.
Inventories of Australian Wine and Brandy, 30 June 2002.
Vineyards, 2002.
Wine and Spirit Production, 2001–02.
Wine Statistics, 2001–02.


NON-ABS SOURCES

Dutruc-Rosset, G., 2002, The State of Vitiviniculture in the World and the Statistical Information in 2000, Office International de la Vigne et du Vin, Paris.