Imported wines that entered Japan in September grew by 40% over the record in the same month last year.
Data culled from the Customs and Tariff Bureau of Japan’s Finance Ministry showed that the country bought 19.5 billion yen worth of wines from international sources in the said month.
Wine importation was mainly lifted by the increase in imported French wines, which value jumped by 79% year on year to 13 billion yen.
There were also increases in wine imports from Italy, Spain, and the United States, up 22%, 4%, and 3%, respectively.
The value of imported Chilean wines fell by almost half, from 1.7 billion yen to around 920 million yen. Argentinian wines also saw a contraction in value, down 38% to 100.5 million yen.
Still, the importation of wines from Australia, Germany, New Zealand, and South Africa, which completes the list of the top 10 wine exporters to Japan, all showed year-on-year growth.
By bottles, imported sparkling wines rose more than twice to 95 billion yen in September compared previously. Wines in containers over 2 liters but less than 10 liters expanded in value by 3% while there was a 41% decrease in the value of fortified wines.
In the three quarters ended September, Japan imported 134 billion yen worth of wines from overseas, representing an 11% growth over the same period a year ago.
Japan’s Top 10 Wine Exporters in September 2021 vs 2020
| Rank | Country | Value in 2021 | Value in 2020 | % Change |
| 1 | France | 13,164,840,000 yen | 7,351,398,000 yen | +79% |
| 2 | Italy | 2,035,922,000 yen | 1,672,225,000 yen | +22% |
| 3 | Spain | 1,204,518,000 yen | 1,163,107,000 yen | +4% |
| 4 | United States | 1,046,517,000 yen | 1,019,565,000 yen | +3% |
| 5 | Chile | 924,415,000 yen | 1,731,004,000 yen | -47% |
| 6 | Australia | 390,704,000 yen | 359,968,000 yen | +9% |
| 7 | Germany | 205,523,000 yen | 144,407,000 yen | +42% |
| 8 | New Zealand | 115,011,000 yen | 104,966,000 yen | +10% |
| 9 | Argentina | 100,490,000 yen | 162,907,000 yen | -38% |
| 10 | South Africa | 93,203,000 yen | 75,293,000 yen | +24% |
| Total | 19,469,701,000 yen | 13,950,644,000 yen | +40% |
Bottled Wine Categories in September 2021 vs 2020
| Wine Category | Value in 2021 | Value in 2020 | % Change |
| Sparkling | 95,27,470,000 yen | 4,220,265,000 yen | +126% |
| Fortified | 26,851,000 yen | 45,165,000 yen | -41% |
| Over 2L but less than 10L | 259,895,000 yen | 251,879,000 yen | +3% |
Japan’s Top 10 Wine Exporters YTD 2021 vs 2020
| Rank | Country | Value in 2021 | Value in 2020 | % Change |
| 1 | France | 78,083,965,000 yen | 63,538,444,000 yen | +23% |
| 2 | Italy | 16,412,951,000 yen | 14,791,070,000 yen | +11% |
| 3 | Chile | 11,190,100,000 yen | 15,651,567,000 yen | -29% |
| 4 | Spain | 9,738,743,000 yen | 8,528,706,000 yen | +14% |
| 5 | United States | 9,312,629,000 yen | 9,806,796,000 yen | -5% |
| 6 | Australia | 3,285,403,000 yen | 3,104,218,000 yen | +6% |
| 7 | Germany | 1,528,289,000 yen | 1,130,198,000 yen | +355% |
| 8 | New Zealand | 835,335,000 yen | 891,117,000 yen | -6% |
| 9 | South Africa | 747,246,000 yen | 767,978,000 yen | -3% |
| 10 | Argentina | 711,410,000 yen | 897,534,000 yen | -21% |
| Total | 133,905,335,000 yen | 120,902,258,000 yen | +11% |
Bottled Wine Categories YTD 2021 vs 2020
| Wine Category | Value in 2021 | Value in 2020 | % Change |
| Sparkling | 50,870,502,000 yen | 40,577,865,000 yen | +25% |
| Fortified | 345,642,000 yen | 425,070,000 yen | -19% |
| Over 2L but less than 10L | 1,939,283,000 yen | 1,805,161,000 yen | +7% |
