Export composition
The two worlds of NZ Wine Exports
New Zealand's wine export story is fundamentally divided by packaging. While premium bottled wine drives the headline value, a quiet but substantial trade in bulk wine shapes the industry's volume and margin dynamics.
Bottled vs bulk economics
The stark difference in unit economics defines the export mix. Bottled wine commands a significant premium, while bulk shipments (containers > 10L) offer a more commoditised route to market. The evolving gap in export value per litre between these channels represents the ongoing premiumisation of the New Zealand wine brand.
Premium bottled
12-month rolling average
$10.57/L
Bulk (>10L)
12-month rolling average
$3.49/L
Unit price over time (NZD per litre, 12-month rolling average)
The white wine monolith
New Zealand's wine exports are overwhelmingly white wine. In SBM's view, that is effectively Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, which dominates national plantings. Red and sparkling wines remain comparatively small, higher value segments rather than volume drivers.
Interpretation by Small But Mighty. Figures below are Stats NZ Overseas Merchandise Trade data.
- Share of export value
- 0.8%
- Change vs prior year
- -20.54%
- Share of export value
- 73.5%
- Change vs prior year
- -1.25%
- Share of export value
- 25.7%
- Change vs prior year
- -11.28%
- Share of export value
- 8.0%
- Change vs prior year
- -0.48%
- Share of export value
- 88.5%
- Change vs prior year
- -3.80%
Source: Stats NZ, HS 2204, 12 months to August 2026.
Compared with September 2024 to August 2025. Change is the value per litre compared with the same 12 months one year earlier (the comparison window above). Shares use all HS2204 export value after quantity exclusions, including grape must (220430), which is not shown as a wine category. Red/white are overlapping still wine colour breakdowns across bottled/bulk, so shares are not additive with packaging categories.
7 HS10 code-months excluded for zero or missing quantity
Missing or zero quantity excludes the whole HS10 code-month from numerator and denominator. Missing quantity is stored as 0, so the two cannot be told apart.
- Current window, July 2026, HS10 2204211311: One or more destination rows have zero or missing quantity (missingness is stored as zero) (1 destination record with zero or missing quantity)
- Prior window, September 2024, HS10 2204211311: One or more destination rows have zero or missing quantity (missingness is stored as zero) (1 destination record with zero or missing quantity)
- Prior window, September 2024, HS10 2204211329: One or more destination rows have zero or missing quantity (missingness is stored as zero) (1 destination record with zero or missing quantity)
- Prior window, October 2024, HS10 2204211311: One or more destination rows have zero or missing quantity (missingness is stored as zero) (1 destination record with zero or missing quantity)
- Prior window, November 2024, HS10 2204211319: One or more destination rows have zero or missing quantity (missingness is stored as zero) (1 destination record with zero or missing quantity)
- Prior window, December 2024, HS10 2204211311: One or more destination rows have zero or missing quantity (missingness is stored as zero) (1 destination record with zero or missing quantity)
- Prior window, January 2025, HS10 2204211301: One or more destination rows have zero or missing quantity (missingness is stored as zero) (1 destination record with zero or missing quantity)
Export value by style (NZD, monthly)
A note on grape varieties
The official Harmonised System (HS) trade codes used by customs authorities globally do not record specific grape varieties (for example, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir). Instead, exports are classified by colour (white or red), carbonation (still or sparkling), and container size (under 2L, 2-10L, over 10L). While the data cannot explicitly isolate Sauvignon Blanc, it overwhelmingly accounts for the white wine figures shown here.