The UK guzzles around 35 million bottles of Champagne each year, making it the world’s largest export market, but UK revellers are increasingly turning to Prosecco, as economic confidence softens. Prosecco imports into the UK jumped 13% in the first nine months of 2015, compared to a 12% drop for Champagne.
The figures (which were largely mirrored by America) build on a ten-year trend: the UK’s sparkling wine imports from Italy have risen tenfold since 2005 to around $270m each year.
But while Champagne sales closely follow the stockmarket, peaking in the UK in 2007, Prosecco tends to boom when economic confidence is lowest. In 2009, for instance, as stockmarkets bottomed, Prosecco imports into the UK leapt by nearly a third, as consumers downgraded, making it a rare example of an industry that expands when stockmarkets are falling. Italy now exports 320 million bottles of Prosecco each year, up threefold in ten years. Around 82 million bottles are bought by Britain.