Agriculture
Not a Drop to Drink: America’s Water Crisis
Not a Drop to Drink: America’s Water Crisis
Almost a year ago, we had wrote about how we are potentially on the path to global Peak Water. Today’s infographic elaborates more on the problem in the United States on a national basis .
Right now, the average American consumes about 100 gallons of water per day both directly and indirectly. This is a problem of conservation and efficiency as much as it is supply, as the aging water infrastructure had its last upgrade during the Reagan era.
In the next 20 years, it is expected that $1.5 trillion needs to be spent on building new infrastructure alone.
At the same time, only 0.3% of freshwater occurs in lakes and streams. With massive droughts occurring in the West of the United States and rivers such as the Colorado River drying up, clearly initial supply is just as much of a concern in America’s water crisis.
To solve the problem of less reliable freshwater supply, countries such as Israel have been turning to desalination. Recently, the government built a megascale $500 million desalination plant to supply up to 20% of the households with regular water supply.
Investors know that with every great problem, there are opportunities abound in companies that can provide solutions. Previously, Sprott Global had outlined three distinct areas that people looking to invest in water management solutions should consider: adaption to water systems to handle changing weather patterns, improving water safety, and managing storm water in urban areas.
Original graphic by: Last Call at the Oasis
Agriculture
Ranked: World’s Biggest Wine Producers by Country
We break down the major wine producers of the world by country and how much they contribute to world wine supply.

Ranked: World’s Biggest Wine Producers By Country
“Wine gives a man fresh strength when he is wearied”—Homer, The Iliad
Wine has been in our cups, in our thoughts, and in our poems for many a millennia, from the antics of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, to its symbolism in the Last Supper. But breaking down the biggest wine producers by country in the modern era leads to some interesting surprises.
This infographic by Alberto Rojo Moro uses data from the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) to visualize where wine production is concentrated in the world.
We take a quick look below.
The Top Wine Producers By Country in 2022
At the top of the list, Italy produced nearly 50 million hectoliters—or about 1,994 Olympic-sized swimming pools—of wine in 2022, accounting for nearly one-fifth of total production in the year. Less than half of that wine was sent to overseas markets, also making Italy the biggest exporter of the beverage by volume.
The country’s long coastline results in a moderate climate, allowing winemaking to occur in 20 different regions in Italy, with Veneto, Apulia, Emilia-Romagna, and Sicily leading in production.
Other known wine connoisseur countries—France (45.6 hectoliters) and Spain (35.8 million hectoliters)—rank second and third in wine production respectively. Together these three countries make up half of the world’s wine supply.
Here’s a full list of the world’s biggest wine producers by country.
Rank | Country | Continent | Quantity (1,000 hl) | % of Total Production |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 🇮🇹 Italy | Europe | 49,843 | 19.30% |
2 | 🇫🇷 France | Europe | 45,590 | 17.65% |
3 | 🇪🇸 Spain | Europe | 35,703 | 13.82% |
4 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | America | 22,385 | 8.67% |
5 | 🇦🇺 Australia | Oceania | 12,745 | 4.93% |
6 | 🇨🇱 Chile | America | 12,444 | 4.82% |
7 | 🇦🇷 Argentina | America | 11,451 | 4.43% |
8 | 🇿🇦 South Africa | Africa | 10,155 | 3.93% |
9 | 🇩🇪 Germany | Europe | 8,940 | 3.46% |
10 | 🇵🇹 Portugal | Europe | 6,777 | 2.62% |
11 | 🇷🇺 Russia | Europe | 4,700 | 1.82% |
12 | 🇨🇳 China | Asia | 4,182 | 1.62% |
13 | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | Oceania | 3,830 | 1.48% |
14 | 🇷🇴 Romania | Europe | 3,788 | 1.47% |
15 | 🇧🇷 Brazil | America | 3,200 | 1.24% |
16 | 🇭🇺 Hungary | Europe | 2,900 | 1.12% |
17 | 🇦🇹 Austria | Europe | 2,527 | 0.98% |
18 | 🇬🇪 Georgia | Europe | 2,135 | 0.83% |
19 | 🇬🇷 Greece | Europe | 2,127 | 0.82% |
20 | 🇲🇩 Moldova | Europe | 1,400 | 0.54% |
21 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | Europe | 992 | 0.38% |
22 | 🇲🇰 North Macedonia | Europe | 936 | 0.36% |
23 | 🇯🇵 Japan | Asia | 830 | 0.32% |
24 | 🇵🇪 Peru | America | 810 | 0.31% |
25 | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | America | 756 | 0.29% |
26 | 🇧🇬 Bulgaria | Europe | 747 | 0.29% |
27 | 🇨🇦 Canada | America | 692 | 0.27% |
28 | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | Europe | 660 | 0.26% |
29 | 🇹🇷 Türkiye | Asia | 622 | 0.24% |
30 | 🇨🇿 Czech Republic | Europe | 586 | 0.23% |
31 | 🇭🇷 Croatia | Europe | 561 | 0.22% |
32 | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | Europe | 546 | 0.21% |
33 | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | Asia | 445 | 0.17% |
34 | 🇮🇱 Israel | Asia | 430 | 0.17% |
35 | 🇲🇦 Morocco | Africa | 418 | 0.16% |
36 | 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan | Asia | 400 | 0.15% |
37 | 🇲🇽 Mexico | America | 396 | 0.15% |
38 | 🇹🇳 Tunisia | Africa | 370 | 0.14% |
39 | 🇧🇾 Belarus | Europe | 340 | 0.13% |
40 | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | Europe | 334 | 0.13% |
41 | 🇦🇱 Albania | Europe | 228 | 0.09% |
42 | 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | Asia | 216 | 0.08% |
43 | 🇩🇿 Algeria | Africa | 193 | 0.07% |
44 | 🇮🇳 India | Asia | 180 | 0.07% |
45 | 🇬🇧 UK | Europe | 91 | 0.04% |
46 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | Europe | 85 | 0.03% |
47 | 🇨🇾 Cyprus | Europe | 79 | 0.03% |
48 | 🇱🇹 Lithuania | Europe | 32 | 0.01% |
49 | 🇧🇪 Belgium | Europe | 30 | 0.01% |
50 | 🇲🇹 Malta | Europe | 13 | 0.01% |
51 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | Europe | 10 | 0.00% |
52 | 🇵🇱 Poland | Europe | 5 | 0.00% |
53 | 🇩🇰 Denmark | Europe | 1 | 0.00% |
🌎 World | All | 258,265 | 100% |
Note: Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
The U.S., ranked 4th, is the top wine producer from the Americas, beating out other wine-producing countries like Chile (6th) and Argentina (7th).
South Africa, ranked 8th, is one of only four African countries in the dataset as winemaking isn’t as widespread on the continent as other regions in the world.
Meanwhile, China (ranked 12th) is the top wine producer from Asia. The region’s preference for other distilled spirits helps explain why the next two biggest Asian wine producers, Japan (23rd) and Türkiye (29th) occupy the middle ranks.
Unsurprisingly, European countries account for two-thirds of the world’s wine supply, followed by the Americas (20%) and then Oceania (6%).
Climate Concerns for Future Wine Production
Wine production has stayed relatively stable for the last decade but climate change is coming for this industry as well.
According to the New York Times, warmer temperatures are both a blessing and curse for winemakers. Some areas once deemed too inhospitable for grapevines (like England) are starting to show potential for certain varietals and wines. At the same time, in some traditional regions, prolonged warmer weather is leading to overripening, forcing winemakers to limit the grapes’ exposure to sunlight.
And the general weather anomalies caused by climate change—floods, droughts, wildfires—all make wine production just a little more difficult than it already is.
Which prompts a question worth pouring a glass of wine over to ponder: which wine producing countries will survive, adapt, languish or thrive in the coming decades?
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