The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute announced that Israel’s wine exports grew 6% to US$39 million in 2015.
The Export Institute added that despite last year’s larger export volume, the money value of exports actually slipped 3% in 2015, due to the weakness of the euro.
An analysis by the wine industry shows that most of the increase in Israel’s exports of wine and other alcoholic beverages was to Asia; the wine sector’s exports to Asia rose 16% to US$2.6 million, while exports to North America grew 8% to US$25 million. Exports to the European Union were down 18% to US$10 million, which the Export Institute attributed to the euro crisis.
Israel has 300 wineries, 60 of which are commercial. Most of Israel’s wineries are boutique and garage wineries small businesses producing a few thousands of bottles a year. The local wine market’s annual turnover is NIS 1 billion, with exports totaling 40 million bottles a year, plus 10 million more bottles of grape juice. 20% of output is for export.
