The marketing of Port and Douro wines reached 625 ME in 2022

“Douro and Port wines, in 2022, once again exceeded the sales record. We have reached around 625 million euros in turnover, with a growth of around 3% compared to 2021,” said Gilberto Igrejas, president of the Douro and Port Wine Institute today ( IVDP).

This is, according to the official, a "very significant" growth and which is essentially due "to the national market", since exports recorded a drop of "5,4%".

“The national market, due to the opening of hotels, similar products and also tourism (…), has managed to overcome this drop in exports and the overall amount is, at this time, a positive variation of approximately 3%,” the manager pointed out.

In terms of marketing, last year Port wine represented 383 million euros and Douro wine 220 million euros.

According to data from the IVDP, in the domestic market, Porto's sales reached 74 million euros, rising to 309 million euros in exports.

As for the Protected Designation of Origin (DOP) Douro, the national market represented a turnover of 150 million euros and exports of around 70 million euros.

The decline in wine exports from the Douro Demarcated Region is justified by the war situation in Ukraine, inflation and the crisis in destination markets, such as the United Kingdom.

“Also the result of a crisis that the country went through, the political instability that the United Kingdom experienced, the variation and the devaluation of the pound against the euro and all this affected in a way or another exports", he illustrated.

Gilberto Igrejas also highlighted, as a positive aspect, the growth of the average price per bottle.

"Economic agents have increased their costs precisely because of the war and the crisis we are going through, but, in a way, this average price makes it possible to bear these costs better, whether it is cardboard , glass or raw materials that farmers use in the Douro. agriculture," he said.

Sales of special category wines, namely Port wine, contributed to the increase in the average price.

“And we noticed it in the domestic market. In other words, economic agents sell special classes and categories also in the national market and this is very revealing of the knowledge that those who visit us have of our wines”, he pointed out.

And, according to him, it is “very important that the sector asserts itself through value and quality”.

“It is now important to call everyone to this continuous work of betting on the valuation of the markets, the international affirmation and the resumption of the export path that we followed in 2021, so that we can further increase the value of the demarcated region of Douro and, in this way, to settle people in the territory,” he stressed.

The Douro is the European City of Wine in 2023 and Peso da Régua will also host, this year, the celebrations of Portugal Day, on June 10.

For Gilberto Igrejas, it is also an opportunity to “show nationally and internationally the quality of Douro wines”.

PLY // JAP