Sales of Prosecco in UK Continue to Rise Faster than Champagne

Prosecco sales across Europe hit €789m in 2016, compared to Champagne sales worth €1.4bn, according to the latest figures from IRI, the provider of big data and predictive analytics for FMCG manufacturers and retailers. While Champagne is outstripping its lower-cost rival by almost double in the market value overall, the figures show that Prosecco continues to be the fizzy drink of choice among consumers, with 77m litres bought — 25% more than Champagne and with growth of 24% in value and 23% in volume. The UK drinks 2.5 times more Prosecco than Italy and pays almost twice the price per litre.

France remains the number one market, worth €921m, accounting for around 66% of all Champagne sales measured in Europe. The UK Champagne market is worth around a third of a billion Euros (€333m). However, this is now dwarfed by Prosecco sales of €600m, over three-quarters of all sales for the tipple in Europe, and growing in the UK by a staggering 25% in value and volume.

Germany has the highest sales for all sparkling wine, at €1.34bn, with the UK second at €1.27bn, but Germany is not drinking much Champagne or Prosecco.

Tim Eales, Strategic Insight Director at IRI, comments: “It’s official: we’re all celebrating far too much according to our figures! Whilst Champagne growth appears to be slowing significantly across most of Europe, although up in other parts of the world, Prosecco continues to grow and grow in almost every market apart from the Netherlands. Even Cava, which seemed to fall out of favour with the rise in popularity of Prosecco a few years ago, has seen value and volume increases in most countries this year.”

IRI’s data shows that the sparkling wine market as a whole, which includes Champagne, Prosecco, Cava and other sparkling wines, is now worth almost €4.6bn in sales value across Europe, with a further €1.7bn across the US/Australia/New Zealand. The UK, France and Germany are the standout markets, where in each country, sales are worth more than one billion Euros.