Champagne sales go flat as global political, economic woes put a chill on celebrations worldwide

This glass is half empty.

Champagne shipments from France have slumped for a second straight year as consumers are more closely minding their pocketbooks and the state of the world has put people in an overall sullen mood, a new Champagne trade association report reveals.

Sales dipped nearly 10% in 2024 to 271 million bottles, according to Comité Champagne, which represents around 320 Champagne houses and 16,000 winegrowers.

The downward pressure on bottle-popping celebrations can be chalked up to the tumultuous times we live in, characterized by “inflation, conflicts around the world, economic uncertainty and a political wait-and-see attitude in some of Champagne’s biggest markets,” Comité Champagne co-president Maxime Toubart told CNN.

He added today’s global sour mood is “no time for celebration,” which has even played out in Champagne capital-of-the-world France, where sales have slid 7% to 118 million bottles, and the “domestic market is still suffering from the prevailing gloomy political and economic context,” she said.

LVMH, the world’s top Champagne producer, which owns high-end bubbly brands including Dom Pérignon, Krug and Veuve Clicquot, was among the first indications of the coming slowdown, notching a 15% drop in sales in the first half of 2024.

“Champagne is quite linked with celebration, happiness, et cetera,” LVMH Chief Financial Officer Jean-Jacques Guiony said on a recent earnings call, the outlet writes.

“Maybe the current global situation, be it geopolitical or macroeconomic, does not lead people to cheer up and to open bottles of Champagne.”