--- description: But when it comes to per capita consumption, France wins hands down title: U.S. Beats France to Title of World's Largest Wine Consumer image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d5f151961475016/69868f20cd804d2fc5ccad74/115356149.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Food & Drink](/tag/food-drink/) ## Food & Drink Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The U.S. Now Drinks More Wine Than France  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 13, 2014 7:05 PM CUT  Monica De Abreu tastes a red wine as she decides which wines to purchase to sell at Global Liquors store on June 6, 2011 in Miami, Florida. Monica De Abreu tastes a red wine as she decides which wines to purchase to sell at Global Liquors store on June 6, 2011 in Miami, Florida.Joe Raedle—Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 13, 2014 7:05 PM CUT Hold onto your berets, folks. For the first time ever, France is now the world’s second largest consumer of wine, ceding the heavyweight title to the U.S. According to a [market assessment](http://www.oiv.int/oiv/info/en%5Fpress%5Fconference%5Fmay%5F2014?lang=en "undefined") by the International Organization of Vine and Wine, U.S. drinkers tipped back 29.1 million hectolitres of wine in 2013, edging out France by roughly 1 million hectolitres. The study’s conclusion marks a turning point in the growing appetite for wine in the U.S., where the market is growing at a 0.5% rate year-over-year. But perhaps more surprising is the decline of French drinkers, who cut back on consumption by 7%. OIV director general Jean-Marie Aurand [told](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/13/wine-usa-france-idUSL6N0NZ3VY20140513 "undefined") Reuters that history’s heaviest wine drinkers, namely, France, Italy and Spain, have begun to focus their purchases on quality over quantity, while Americans, who have developed oenophilia comparatively recently, are busily bulking up their cellars. Even so, they’ll have a long way to go before they reach French consumption on a per capita basis. Americans drank 9.1 litres per person in 2011, a drop in the ocean compared with France’s 46.4 litres. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/97957/us-wine-france-consumption/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/97957/us-wine-france-consumption/"},"headline":"The U.S. Now Drinks More Wine Than France","datePublished":"2014-05-13T19:05:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:16.920Z","description":"U.S. oenophiles now drink a larger total amount of wine than any other country in the world — but when it comes to per capita consumption, France still wins hands down","url":"https://time.com/97957/us-wine-france-consumption/","keywords":["Food & Drink","Living","France","Alcohol","wine","U.S.","drinking"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d5f151961475016/69868f20cd804d2fc5ccad74/115356149.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d5f151961475016/69868f20cd804d2fc5ccad74/115356149.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Surpasses France To Lead The World In Wine Consumption","caption":"U.S. Surpasses France To Lead The World In Wine Consumption","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/food-drink/","name":"Food & Drink"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/97957/us-wine-france-consumption/","name":"The U.S. Now Drinks More Wine Than France"}}]}] ```