The Irish wine sector is expected to grow from €1.19bn ($1.42bn) in 2018 to reach €1.36bn ($1.6bn) by 2023, with sparkling wines set to be the fastest-growing category between 2018 and 2023 says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report ‘Ireland Wine’ notes that still wine led the Irish wine sector in 2018, in terms of per-capita consumption, with 20.4 liters (l) in 2018, followed by sparkling wine and fortified wine with 0.6l and 0.4l, respectively. However, this category is forecast to lose market share, declining from 93.2% in 2018 to 93% in 2023.”

The Irish fortified wine category grew from €31.8m (US$42.4m) in 2013 to €35.1m (US$41.8m) in 2018, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2%. The category is expected to reach €39.5m ($47.6m) by 2023, registering a CAGR of 2.4% during 2018 to 2023.

Mounika Neela, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, commented: “In volume terms, the fortified wine category grew from 1.60 million liters in 2013 to 1.68 million liters in 2018, registering a CAGR of 1%. The category is expected to grow further and reach 1.74 million liters by 2023, registering a CAGR of 0.7% during 2018–2023 period. On-trade transactions accounted for 48% share of the category by value and 26.4% share by volume in 2018.”

The Irish sparkling wine category grew from $48.1m in 2013 to $54.8m in 2018, registering a CAGR of 5%. The category is expected to reach $67.6m by 2023, registering a CAGR of 4% during the 2018–2023 period.

Neela added: “In volume terms, the sparkling wine category grew from 1.9 million liters in 2013 to 2.2 million liters in 2018, registering a CAGR of 3.8%. The category is expected to grow further and reach 2.5 million liters by 2023, registering a CAGR of 2.4% during 2018–2023. On-trade transactions accounted for 39.7% share of the category by value and 29.5% share by volume in 2018.”