Champagne exports lose their fizz

France's Champagne producers shipped fewer bottles of bubbly last year in another sign of softness in the luxury market.

Foreign shipments from the French region dropped 8.2 percent, the Comite Champagne, which represents the producers, said yesterday.

Within France, shipments fell to the lowest level in almost four decades excluding 2020, which was skewed by pandemic lockdowns.

Demand for Veuve Clicquot, Bollinger, Lanson and others labels soared when pandemic restrictions eased and has since been returning to normal - a trend seen across the luxury-goods industry.

The consultancy Bain estimates the sector will probably grow by as much as 4 percent this year, down from 8 percent in 2023. Total shipments fell to 299 million bottles last year.

Growers made up for the lower volumes by selling more expensive labels, especially abroad, keeping revenue above the EUR6 billion (HK$51 billion) record reached in 2022.