Australian wine exports fall

Australian wine exports slumped last year by 18 per cent to $2.47 billion indicating the boom the wine industry has enjoyed since the mid-1990s maybe over. The fall was the first decline in value since exports began being recorded by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation (AWBC). Volume fell by 11 per cent to 698 million litres. The value of wine exports to Britain fell 18.2 per cent and to the US were down 26.5 per cent - Australia's two key export markets.

The AWBC described 2008 as a year of two halves with the first half dominated by a high Australian dollar and the second being impacted by the global economic crisis.