Champagne: French drinking less wine after boom years

France's Champagne producers shipped fewer bottles of bubbly last year, another sign of softness in the luxury market. Foreign shipments from the French region dropped 8.2%, the Comite Champagne, which represents the producers, said on Monday.

Within France, shipments fell to the lowest level in almost four decades excluding 2020. The French are by far the biggest consumers of their home-grown sparkling wine, accounting for more than 40% of shipments, but inflation has weighed on household budgets, according to the Comite Champagne.

Demand for Veuve Clicquot, Bollinger, Lanson and others labels soared when pandemic restrictions eased and has since been returning to normal The consultancy Bain estimates the sector will probably grow by as much as 4% this year, down from 8% in 2023, underlining the challenges facing purveyors of high-end goods.


Total shipments fell to 299 million bottles last year. Growers made up for the lower volumes by selling more expensive labels, especially abroad, keeping revenue above the ₹6 billion ($6.6 billion) record reached in 2022, according to the Comite.