Guess who, of all the world’s peoples, consumes the most wine? At 55 litres per person a year, it’s the Vatican City. It must be all the communions. Or maybe it is because you don’t have to drive to get home if you live in the Vatican.
It’s interesting to watch trends, as consumption rises in some countries and falls in others, and to speculate about the reasons in each case.
120 litres of wine was consumed per person each year in France in the 1960s. Now, they drink only about 45 litres a year, less than a glass a day. Contrary to widespread belief, most French people don’t drink wine with most meals. Reasons include health concerns, changing patterns of sociability and tougher drinking-driving laws.
There’s a similar pattern in Italy, where wine consumption has fallen from about 110 litres per capita in the 1960s, to just over 40 litres today. It looks as though it will keep on declining. While about 70-per-cent of Italians over the age of 65 drink wine every day, that’s true of only 13-per-cent of those under the age of 35. Over time, heavier drinkers will be replaced by lighter-drinkers and non-drinkers.