White wines are more popular than reds

White wines are more popular than reds, but only if you include sparkling in the equation. The popularity of white is mainly driven by demand for sparkling wine which has meant that white wines have overtaken red wines as the preferred wine choice.

According to figures released by the OIV at this week’s Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris 2024, production of red wine has declined by 25% since its peak in 2004. The share of red wines now only account for 43% of wine production, a drop of 25% over the last 20 years. White wine production is now at 49% of all wine, with rosé making up the rest at 8%.

The white wine figures include both still and sparkling wines and the huge growth in sparkling wines in the USA, UK and Germany over the last 20 years is the main driver for white's rise.

The countries where white wine dominates production over red are:

New Zealand 89.6%
UK 85.5%
Hungary 71.8%
Austria 70.3%
Greece 67.%
Germany 64.7%