Spain Overtakes Chile as South Korea's Largest Wine Supplier by Volume
Spain shipped 6.29 million litres of wine to South Korea in the first half of 2026, up 13.1%, passing Chile to become the market's largest supplier by volume. Revenue barely moved, rising by just 288 euros to 13.21 million euros, as bulk wine and formats above 10 litres drove the gain. The wider Korean market bought 27.63 million litres worth 184.22 million euros, down 0.8% and 4.7% respectively.
Spain became South Korea's largest wine supplier by volume in the first half of 2026, overtaking Chile in a market that bought slightly less wine and paid less per litre than a year earlier. Data from the Korea Trade Statistics Promotion Institute, analysed by the Spanish Wine Interprofessional Organisation (OIVE) and reported by Vinetur, show South Korean imports of 27.63 million litres worth 184.22 million euros between January and June, down 0.8% in volume and 4.7% in value against the same period of 2025.
The average customs value fell from 6.94 to 6.67 euros per litre, a drop of 0.27 euros or 3.9%. Spending fell faster than volume, a sign that the imported mix was cheaper. OIVE notes that unit customs value reflects formats, categories and the composition of purchases, not only commercial pricing.
Spain up 13.1%, Chile down 16.1%
Spain shipped 729,247 litres more than a year earlier, reaching 6,285,673 litres, an increase of 13.1%. Chile lost 944,367 litres and finished at 4,914,516 litres, down 16.1%. The gap between the two came to 1.37 million litres in Spain's favour, lifting Spain to first place by volume in the Korean market.
The volume gain did not translate into revenue. Spanish sales to South Korea moved from 13,207,938 to 13,208,226 euros, an increase of 288 euros, leaving Spain sixth by value. Its average price fell from 2.38 to 2.10 euros per litre, down 11.6% and far below the market average.
OIVE attributes most of the Spanish volume growth to bulk wine and formats above 10 litres. In that category Spain went from 1,734,688 to 2,818,830 litres, up 62.5%, with revenue rising from 1.32 to 2.01 million euros, or 52.3%. Other categories retreated: sparkling wine fell 21% in volume to 589,942 litres, bottled wine slipped 2.2% to 2,346,693 litres and bag-in-box declined 21.4% to 530,208 litres.
Chile held a stronger position in value but lost ground on both counts. Its sales dropped from 20.57 to 16.41 million euros, down 20.2%, on a volume of 4.91 million litres. The average value of Chilean wine went from 3.51 to 3.34 euros per litre, a cut of 4.9%.
France leads on value, the US buys share on price
France remained the leading supplier by value at 70.68 million euros, up 2.6% year on year, while ranking third by volume with 4.06 million litres, down 2.7%. Italy was third in value at 23.25 million euros, down 7.6%, and fourth in volume at 3.15 million litres, down 12.1%.
The United States followed a different path, lifting volume 42.1% to 2,986,919 litres while revenue fell 5.4% to 27.57 million euros. Its average value dropped from 13.86 to 9.23 euros per litre, a decline of 33.4% and one of the steepest among the large suppliers.
Argentina also improved its numbers, moving from 362,661 to 432,800 litres, up 19.3%, and from 2,579,049 to 2,694,449 euros, up 4.5%. Argentine average value fell from 7.11 to 6.23 euros per litre, 0.89 euros less, leaving the country ninth by value and eighth by volume among suppliers to the Korean market.
Bottled and sparkling drive the decline
By product type, most of the market's contraction came from bottled and sparkling wine. Bottled totalled 20.12 million litres, down 1.4%, and 137.92 million euros, down 6%. Sparkling fell harder in volume, 13.4% to 2.65 million litres, yet gave up only 0.2% in value at 35.38 million euros, because its average price rose 15.2% to 13.37 euros per litre. Bag-in-box also declined, to 1.25 million litres, down 14.6%, and 1.86 million euros, down 19.1%.
Bulk wine and formats above 10 litres were the exception, rising 23.2% in volume to 3.62 million litres and 2.4% in value to 9.05 million euros, although the average price fell from 3.01 to 2.50 euros per litre, down 16.9%.
Over the twelve months to June 2026, South Korea imported 56.2 million litres, up 1.3%, for 375.5 million euros, down 9.2%: 0.74 million litres more and 38 million euros less than the previous rolling year. OIVE says import value advanced almost without interruption from late 2020 to February 2023, when it reached 560 million euros on an annual basis. Volume peaked in February 2022 at 77.2 million litres before falling to 52 million in July 2024 and recovering since. Comparing 2025 with 2015, imports were up 213.6 million euros and 56.5 million litres.
