Moldova: Modern industry structure

The wine industry is a strategic and economically important sector for Moldova, accounting in 2012 for 3.2% of GDP, 7.5% of Moldova’s exports by value, and 14.4% of agricultural output, while 7% of the country’s arable land is vineyard. There were 140 wine companies in 2014 although only 34 produced quality wines. Production in 2012 was approximately 1.36 million hl/nearly 36 million gal (although average production has typically been closer to 1.5 million hl, compared with around 4 million hl before the first Russian ban in 2006). The vast majority is exported (40% as bottled wine, the rest as bulk). By volume, leading export destinations are the former Soviet states, which take 68% (compared with 90% in 2004). Of these, Russia remains most important (at 38%), followed by kazakhstan (15%), Ukraine (11%), and Belarus (6%). Domestic consumption of commercial wine is slowly increasing but is dwarfed by consumption of homemade wines (often from hybrids such as Lidia and Isabella) estimated at 37.8 l/10 gal per capita. A Wine of Moldova brand was launched in 2014 to encourage exports outside the old Soviet bloc.