Victorian

wine industry
Fast Facts
January 2023

770 ↓ 6%
900 ↓ 1%
$171M ↑ 50%
$206M ↓ 34%

Wine grapes farm Jobs in wine industry Gross value of wine grapes Wine exports
businesses (2020‑21) (2020‑21) (2020‑21) (2021‑22)

Wine grape facts and figures • In 2020-21, the gross value of wine grapes produced in Victoria
• The Victorian wine industry spans 22 diverse regions. Around was $171 million, accounting for 14 per cent of the national gross
80 per cent of the fruit originates from the Victorian side of the value of wine grape produced valued at $1.22 billion.
Murray Darling‑Swan Hill wine region, producing warm‑climate • Ranked by value, Victoria is the third largest wine grapes producer
varieties for the bulk wine trade. Rutherglen, Heathcote, the behind South Australia (57%) and New South Wales (21%).
Mornington Peninsula, and the Yarra Valley regions produce
• The Australian wine grape crush for 2021 was estimated to be
premium wines.
around 2 million tonnes – the largest recorded. The crush is
• In 2020‑21, there were 770 commercial grape growers in Victoria, 31 per cent above the 2020 harvest and 17 per cent above the
operating on 19,340 hectares of vineyards. 10‑year average of 1.74 million tonnes.
• Wine grapes produced in Victoria are split evenly between • The estimated value of the Australia’s crush increased
white and red varieties. by 36 per cent from $1.15 billion in 2020 to $1.56 billion in 2021,
an increase of $400 million.
How much is produced?
Industry employment
Victoria's wine grapes production (kilotonnes)
2011-12 296 Employment by industry, Victoria
2012-13 359 Horticulture 14,100 21%
2013-14 256
Dairy 12,950 19%
2014-15 319 TOTAL
AGRICULTURE Beef 10,650 16%
2015-16 288
PRODUCTION Grains 9,700 14%
2016-17 285 JOBS 2020-21
Sheep 9,200 14%

67,600
2017-18 221
10-YEAR Nurseries and floriculture 5,900 9%
2018-19 203 AVERAGE
2019-20 182 (266) Poultry 2,500 4%
2020-21 255 Other livestock 2,000 3%
Pig 600 1%

• Victoria produced 255,169 tonnes of wine grapes in 2020‑21, up

41 per cent compared with 2019‑20. Victoria is Australia’s third • It is estimated that around 900 people worked on farms
largest wine grapes producer, behind South Australia and New producing wine grapes in 2020‑21.
South Wales.
• There are around 700 wineries and over 400 cellar doors in
How much is exported?
Victoria. The Victorian wine crush was around 330,000 tonnes Value of wine exports by state
of fruit in 2020‑21, accounting for 17 per cent of the national
wine grape crush. SA $1,378M 63%

• Most Victorian wineries are small producers, crushing less than NSW $470M 21%
50 tonnes annually, with only 13 large wineries with an annual TOTAL VIC $206M 9%
crush of 5,000 tonnes or more. EXPORTS 2021-22
OTHERS $99M 4%

What is the value of production?

$2.2B WA $38M 2%

TAS $5M 0.2%

Gross value of wine grapes
QLD $1M 0.1%
SA $699M 57%

NSW $253M 21%

• In 2021‑22, Victorian wine exports generated $206 million, a fall of
TOTAL GROSS
34 per cent compared with 2020‑21. Red and white wines account
VALUE 2020-21 for 66 and 26 per cent, respectively. Wine exports represent
VIC $171M 14%

$1.22B WA $66M 5%
1.4 per cent of Victoria’s total food exports ($11.4 billion).
• Victoria is the third largest wine exporter accounting for
DJSIR13896_0223

9 per cent of Australia’s wine exports valued at $2.2 billion,

TAS $35M 3% behind South Australia (63%) and New South Wales (21%).
• United Kingdom was the highest value export market ($54 million or
46%), followed by the US ($36 million) and New Zealand ($16 million).

Data attribution: Sourced from publicly available data

published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) |
Agriculture Policy and Programs Branch Agriculture Policy and Programs Branch analysis. Data
Francis Karanja: francis.b.karanja@agriculture.vic.gov.au in this snapshot are the latest available as of December 2022.