(04 April 2017) – In the European Union in 2015, there were 2.4 million holdings cultivating 3.2 million ha of vineyards. The average area per holding was 1.3 ha, however with significant differences between Member States.
2.5 million hectares (78%) of vineyards were dedicated to the production of grapes for quality wine. Quality wine refers to both protected designation of origin (2.1 million ha, or 83% of total quality wine area in the EU) and protected geographical indication (0.4 million ha, or 17%).
With almost 1 million hectares of vineyards (941 000 ha, or 30% of EU total area), Spain was the Member State with the largest area devoted to grapes for wine in 2015, followed by France (803 000 ha, or 25%), Italy (610 000 ha in 2010, or 19%) and, at a distance, by Portugal (199 000 ha, or 6%), Romania (184 000 ha, or 6%), Greece and Germany (both around 103 000 ha, or 3% each).
The ranking is very different for the number of vineyard holdings, with Romania (855 000 holdings, or 36% of EU total) registering the most, ahead of Spain (518 000 holdings, or 22%), Italy (299 000 holdings in 2010, or 12%), Portugal (212 000 holdings or 9%) and Greece (189 000 holdings, or 8%).