Bulgaria Gradually Disappearing from the International Wine Market
Borislav Georgiev
Bulgaria Gradually Disappearing from the International Wine Market
- Code red: Alarm for Bulgarian production".
Wine is an undeniable part of Bulgaria's centuries-old identity. For years, Bulgaria has been among the largest exporters of wine in the world. Since 1961, the country has been among the top 15 wine-exporting nations, even ranking fourth in the global standings in 1975. Unfortunately, the trend has sharply reversed over the past 20 years, with Bulgaria losing its positions in this prestigious market annually since 2007. Bulgarian wine exports, measured by quantity in tons under customs tariff position 2204 Wines of Fresh Grapes, continue to decline, according to data from global trade statistics (www.trademap.org - Geneva).
The reasons for this alarming trend need to be carefully studied and analyzed because it is evidently not due to climatic and/or geographical factors. Comparative data analysis shows that Balkan countries and EU member states comparable to us are maintaining and expanding their market positions.
For the period observed between 2003 and 2022, the EU27 countries have increased their exported wine volume by 50%. Slovakia's growth is over 3 times, and Hungary's is almost 2 times. North Macedonia now exports nearly 4 times more wine than Bulgaria. Bulgaria alone has a seven-fold decrease in quantity for the 2022 period over the past twenty years. Bulgaria's share of the total EU27 export quantity dropped from 2.3% in 2005 to 0.2% in 2022.
In terms of value, Bulgarian wine exports decreased from EUR 86.5 million in 2007 to a modest EUR 16.8 million in 2022.
From 2007 to 2022, EU27 exports increased from EUR 14.9 billion to EUR 27.8 billion, nearly doubling.
This comparative analysis of Bulgarian wine exports with those of Balkan countries and the entire EU27 shows that the main reason for Bulgaria's sustained decline over the past 20 years lies within us, not in the global economic conditions. Probably, the size of agricultural subsidies, for which farmers in Bulgaria are currently protesting, is not the most important reasons for the state of Bulgarian wine production and exports, as even countries outside the EU, such as North Macedonia and Serbia, not only maintain their market positions but continually expand them. Bulgaria evidently needs immediate and radical political, economic, and sectoral changes. In order to continue to exist...
