More than half Portugal’s exports of wine went to other EU countries last year, sales of €403 million, with France and the UK the main markets.
In 2013, total exports of wine grew 4% over the previous year, some €732 million, according to a new D&B report, which pointed out “the good sales performance abroad" in recent years.
"The growth of exports in 2013 represented an average annual increase of 6.5% compared to 2009," according to the report which notes that more than 60% of exports registered last year were wines with a protected designation of origin and that port represented 45% of total exports.
Portuguese consumers are developing a worrying taste for foreign wines as last year there was “a strong growth of imports,” which led to a moderate reduction in the trade surplus relative to 2012.
The volume of wine produced last was 12% up at 6.3 million hectolitres but the wine to be sold this year comes from a volume of 6.7 million hectoliters," according to the study.
The number of companies in the sector was slightly up but the number of those employed dropped from 8,146 to 7,756.
The geographical distribution of wine producers showed a "heavy concentration" in the north, where half of all businesses are located. Following the north is the central region with a share of about 25%, and then the Alentejo with about 15%, according to the study.
