Decanter relays the findings of a study conducted by France AgriMer*, a government agency, indicating that the French are “drinking less wine than ever.” A similar story appears in La Revue du vin de France (RVF), who points out that soda and fruit juice are replacing wine. The articles emphasize that the proportion of consumers who drink wine on a regular basis has fallen to 17% in 2010 from 51% in 1980. That figure is predicted to drop to 13% by 2015, Decanter says. Non-drinkers have remained stable at 38% of the French people. Per capita wine consumption in France was 160 liters in 1965 as compared to 57 liters in 2010 (based on population 15 years of age and above). RVF remarks as well that the decline in regular drinkers has occurred in all traditional wine-producing countries.

*La consommation du vin en France en 2010, France AgriMer Synthèses, November 2012