Japan continues to see more entry of imported wines this year with the February record seeing a 14% year on year increase.
Data culled from the Customs and Tariff Bureau of the Finance Ministry showed that imported wines in Japan grew to 15.6 billion yen or US$128 million from 13.7 billion yen (US$110 million) in February last year.
France was still its top wine exporter, which raised exports in the month by 23% to 9.8 billion yen. Wines from Chile and the United States also went up by 21% and 37%, respectively.
Japan’s importation of Italian wines dwindled, down by 36% year on year to 1.2 billion yen. It still remains the third biggest wine import in the country on a year-to-date basis, albeit its value also saw a decline of 21% over the same period last year.
There was a slight increase in the value of Spanish wines in February, climbing to about 830 million yen. Exporters from Australia brought 27% more wines to Japan compared in the same month in the previous year.
German wines saw a 92% rise in the country to a value worth 140 million yen while New Zealand wines grew by 14% to 128 million yen.
Wines from South Africa more than doubled in value to reach 86 million yen. Portuguese wines also rose by 33% to around 79 million yen.
By category, imported sparkling wines increased by 5% to 6.3 billion yen while imported bottles of more than 2 liters but less than 10L went up 40% to 206 million yen. Fortified wines declined by 5% to 22 million yen.
In the first two months of the year, total imported wines to Japan hit 31.5 billion yen (US$260 million) in value, rising by 27%.
Japans’ Top 10 Wine Exporters in February 2022 vs 2021
| Rank | Country | Value in 2022 | Value in 2021 | % Change |
| 1 | France | 9,796,825,000 yen | 7,984,952,000 yen | +23% |
| 2 | Chile | 1,593,603,000 yen | 1,319,704,000 yen | +21% |
| 3 | United States | 1,279,783,000 yen | 930,941,000 yen | +37% |
| 4 | Italy | 1,231,830,000 yen | 1,924,954,000 yen | -36% |
| 5 | Spain | 831,542,000 yen | 826,642,000 yen | +1% |
| 6 | Australia | 321,788,000 yen | 254,082,000 yen | +27% |
| 7 | Germany | 142,753,000 yen | 74,543,000 yen | +92% |
| 8 | New Zealand | 128,269,000 yen | 112,365,000 yen | +14% |
| 9 | South Africa | 86,394,000 yen | 40,142,000 yen | +115% |
| 10 | Portugal | 78,830,000 yen | 59,291,000 yen | +33% |
| Total | 15,676,150,000 yen | 13,715,713,000 yen | +14% |
Wine Categories in February 2022 vs 2021
| Bottled Wine Size | Value in 2022 | Value in 2021 | % Change |
| Sparkling | 6,313,229,000 yen | 6,027,815,000 yen | +5% |
| Fortified | 22,153,000 yen | 23,397,000 yen | -5% |
| More than 2L but less than 10L | 206,516,000 yen | 147,705,000 yen | +40% |
Japans’ Top 10 Wine Exporters YTD 2022 vs 2021
| Rank | Country | Value in 2022 | Value in 2021 | % Change |
| 1 | France | 19,051,628,000 yen | 14,108,327,000 yen | +35% |
| 2 | Chile | 3,618,579,000 yen | 2,603,930,000 yen | +40% |
| 3 | Italy | 2,646,959,000 yen | 3,352,732,000 yen | -21% |
| 4 | United States | 2,479,407,000 yen | 1,681,109,000 yen | +48% |
| 5 | Spain | 1,813,518,000 yen | 1,606,389,000 yen | +13% |
| 6 | Australia | 841,215,000 yen | 552,804,000 yen | +52% |
| 7 | Germany | 248,335,000 yen | 151,741,000 yen | +64% |
| 8 | New Zealand | 175,675,000 yen | 155,936,000 yen | +13% |
| 9 | South Africa | 128,609,000 yen | 101,132,000 yen | +27% |
| 10 | Portugal | 120,668,000 yen | 106,188,000 yen | +14% |
| Total | 31,501,009,000 yen | 24,806,414,000 yen | +27% |
Wine Categories YTD 2022 vs 2021
| Bottled Wine Size | Value in 2022 | Value in 2021 | % Change |
| Sparkling | 13,199,930,000 yen | 10,261,951,000 yen | +29% |
| Fortified | 47,958,000 yen | 57,183,000 yen | -16% |
| More than 2L but less than 10L | 493,702,000 yen | 314,814,000 yen | +57% |
