In the period between the beginning of January and the end of July, winegrowers asked 5 percent higher price for the wines they produced than in the same period a year earlier. They received an average of 30.1 thousand Hungarian forints for a hectoliter (100 liters) of wine, meaning that the price per liter was only 301 forints, even with the increase. Processors' sales prices for wines with a protected geographical indication of higher quality have risen more than this. In this category, white wine prices grew by 11 percent to around 29 thousand forints per hectoliter, while red and rose wine prices increased by 15 percent, but still only to 35.5 thousand forints per hectoliter, the Vilaggazdasag economic news portal wrote.
The sales price of exported Hungarian wines without geographical indications and wines with protected geographical indications also increased by almost five percent to around thirty thousand forints per hectoliter in the first seven months of 2024 compared to a year earlier. However, buyers could only accept a below-average hike in the sales price of higher quality wines, and the price of red wines, which suffered from a fall in consumption, was lower.
The sales price of white wines with a protected geographical indication increased by four percent (to 26.4 thousand forints per hectoliter), while red and rose wines with a protected geographical indication were sold at a three percent lower price, at 25,2 thousand per hectoliter, on the international market.
In Hungary, in the category of white wines with a protected designation of origin, the average domestic sales price of Tokaj wines increased by almost two percent to 150,500 forints per hectoliter in the first seven months, while the average domestic sales price of red and rose wines from Eger in the same protected designation of origin category rose by almost four percent 59,200 forints per hectoliter.
Compared to the average price of the first seven-month period a year earlier, the export price of white wines from Tokaj dropped by approximately one percent, to 83 thousand forints per hectoliter. The selling price of red and rose wines from Eger, also with a protected designation of origin, increased by five percent to 68,400 forints per hectoliter.
Data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) show that Hungary's foreign trade balance in wine without semi-sparkling and sparkling wines was positive in the first half of 2024, up 26 percent in volume and almost 20 percent in value compared to the first half of 2023. The volume of wine exported rose by around 27 percent to 648 400 hectoliters, while the increase in value was more modest at almost 21 percent. This brought wine sales revenue from foreign markets to 23.6 billion forints.
Bulk wines accounted for 73 percent of the exported volume, increasing almost by 25 percent to 473.5 thousand hectoliters in the first half of the year. The export of bottled wines rose by 32 percent to 174.9 thousand hectolitres, while the sales value increased by 7 percent to 11 billion forints. Hungarian white wines continued to be the most sought-after on the international market, accounting for 81 percent of exports during the period under review.
The volume of wine imported by Hungary rose to 32.5 hectoliter in the first six months of this year, up 31 percent year-on-year.
It is good news for winemakers that Hungarian consumers largely stick to domestic wines, but there is a growing group of consumers purchasing foreign wines. The wines imported were almost entirely bottled. The total value of imports of bottled and bulk wines rose by approximately 27 percent to 2.6 billion forints.
