Italy shot to the top position in 2012, as the country selling most volume of wine into Sweden, and is still there. Not threatened by anyone at the moment. In 2017, 56.8 million litres of Italian wine were sold at Systembolaget, the Swedish retail monopoly. France, in second place, sold a meagre 26.5 million. The Italian dominance is absolutely incredible. Spain is number three with 21.7 million litres and South Africa number four with 20.3 million, after previously having been in the lead until Italy won that position.
Looking at the statistics for red wines, we have Italy in the top slot, Spain in second place and France in third place. For white wines South Africa leads before France and Italy.
France’s 26.5 million litres are divided between approximately one third red, one-third white and one-third Champagne. Quite incredible, the popularity of Champagne in Sweden.
One should keep in mind when reading the numbers that a few best-selling “box wines”, bag-in-box, can have a big effect. (More than 50% of all wine sold in Sweden is in BiB.) The biggest selling wine alone accounted for 3 million litres! At 159 kr (~16 euro) for three litres (=4 bottles). It is Spanish and represents well over 10% of Spanish wine sales in Sweden.
So, in summary:
- Italy
- France
- Spain
- South Africa
Statistics from systembolaget.se.
