Poland´s rise to the top 5 wine markets- Wine Intelligence

Poland climbed 9 places to become the 5^th most attractive wine market in the Wine Intelligence Global Compass 2020 Market Attractiveness report. What is fuelling this growth?

Back in 2017, we predicted an “exciting period of growth” ahead for Poland both economically and in terms of wine consumption. With the passing of the years, this prediction is coming good.

Poland is now the 5^th most attractive wine market in the world according to our Global Compass 2020 report, up nine places from 2019. This jump in ranking can be attributed to an increasing wine drinking population and a flux of disposable income, both of which are taken into account when calculating wine market attractiveness, along with other economic and specific wine market metrics.

With a 4.3% compound annual growth rate in terms of GDP (World Bank) this is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and one that is becoming increasingly influential in an EU context.

Although Covid-19 is expected to have a negative impact on Poland´s economy – as it is with every economy – it is expected at a lesser degree than its European counterparts. The IMF predicts a 4.6% GDP reduction in Poland, while at the same time it predicts a 7% fall in Germany, 7.2% in France, 8% in Spain and 9.1% in Italy.

Our calibration surveys show that around 15 million, or just under half of the 32 million adults in Poland, drink wine at least twice per year. Although the total number of wine drinkers has remained relatively stable over the past few years, within this population, consumers are drinking wine more frequently as the chart below shows.

According to the IWSR, still wine consumption registered a compound annual growth rate of 3.4% in Poland from 2015 to 2019. From the 50 markets we analyse annually, Poland ranks 17^th in terms of total imported still wine consumption with a total of about 117 million litres – a very similar volume to other European markets such as Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden or Belgium. However, the difference is that in all of these other markets, there is either zero or negative volume growth for imported still wine. Additionally, Poland´s per capita consumption of still wine is only about 4 litres per capita per year, against 39 litres in Switzerland, 33 litres in Denmark or 29 litres in Germany, leaving plenty of room for growth.

Poland brings a lot of opportunities for global wine brands. This is one of the few markets in Europe where European origins such as France, Italy or Spain don’t dominate. Instead, the US and Chile are the main countries of origin supplying the Polish market. Wine consumers in Poland are also typically younger and more eager to discover more about wine than in other places, and as the economy keeps expanding relatively fast, so does the purchasing power.

This leads to Poland being a strong opportunity market, particularly as the market develops and drinkers start looking for core and recognisable brands.

Wine Intelligence will be publishing an update to Poland Wine Landscapes in September 2021 and running consumers surveys in the market during 2021. Please get in touch if you are interested in pre-ordering this report or have custom questions you wish to address in Poland.

Author: Luis Osorio