The latest shipment figures from the Comité Champagne confirm that, for the first time since 2021, the UK market is back in growth.
Shipments to the UK rose by 1.9% in 2025 to 22.7 million bottles. This follows several consecutive years of decline after volumes peaked at nearly 30 million bottles in 2021 – a high widely attributed to post-pandemic demand.
A recovery in the UK had been widely anticipated by leading importers, many of whom have pointed to Champagne’s relative resilience compared with other alcoholic drinks categories, several of which continue to face declining demand.
Richard Billett, managing director of Maisons Marques et Domaines (the UK distributor for Champagne Louis Roederer), struck a cautiously optimistic tone. “It’s definitely not doom and gloom,” he told the drinks business.
“We are down from a peak in ’22 and ’23, but we are up on ’24,” he added.
Billett reported a 9% increase in UK volume sales for 2025, following a 6% decline in 2024, placing current performance between 2023 and 2024 levels. He also highlighted a shift in market dynamics: “Over the past 12 months, the focus has been on volume; 24 months ago, it was about value.”
A key factor supporting demand has been what he described as “pricing stability,” even as producers absorb rising costs. These include higher duty rates, the UK’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) packaging scheme, and increased expenses for labour, energy, and – most significantly – grapes from the 2021 and 2022 harvests, which underpin current releases.
Despite these pressures, Billett pointed to “reasons to be cheerful,” citing growth across the range, including Roederer’s Collection multi-vintage blend and its prestige cuvée, Cristal.
A similarly positive message came from Adam Guy, managing director of Champagne Laurent-Perrier UK, who said the brand has “done very well” in 2025 and “beaten the market.”
In hospitality, Guy reported “good momentum” behind the house’s premium products, alongside “some good wins in the on-trade.” More broadly, he noted that Champagne is outperforming many other drinks categories, while acknowledging ongoing cost pressures and market uncertainty.
At Champagne Bollinger, managing director Charles-Armand de Belenet also described 2025 as a strong year, “positive in both value and volume,” driven in part by the success of a James Bond limited edition release.
He said the decision to price the limited edition in line with Bollinger Special Cuvée helped reward loyal customers while adding appeal through presentation.
However, he cautioned that the premium segment is “suffering,” reflecting broader weakness in the fine wine market. By contrast, the Brut NV category continues to perform well, supported by promotional activity in markets including the UK.
“Champagne remains highly desirable,” he said. “With the right promotional strategy, it works.”
Champagne Pol Roger has also reported record UK sales of its Brut NV. According to UK managing director James Simpson MW, volumes surpassed previous highs “by quite a long way.”
Reflecting on long-term trends, he added: “We seem to have trained the UK consumer to continue to drink Champagne.”
The UK’s improved performance means it now accounts for 15% of total Champagne exports, up from 14.6% in 2024. This increase is partly due to a slowdown in shipments to the US, where oversupply has weighed on demand.
Excess stock in the US in 2025 is largely attributed to a surge in shipments at the end of 2024, as producers rushed to send inventory ahead of Donald Trump’s January inauguration amid fears of potential tariffs.
Globally, eight of Champagne’s top 10 export markets recorded growth in 2025, with only the US and Italy in decline.
Meanwhile, the domestic French market continues to contract. Some within the region suggest that a meaningful recovery in overall demand will depend on renewed consumption at home.
However, with Champagne prices now around 25% higher than before the pandemic, many believe the category has moved beyond everyday consumption. French drinkers are increasingly turning to more affordable sparkling alternatives such as Crémant, Prosecco and even rosé wines.
Back in the UK, growth is not evenly distributed across all segments. Prestige cuvées have declined sharply, with volumes falling by nearly one-third year-on-year – from just under 600,000 bottles in 2024 to 478,000 in 2025.
By contrast, Extra Brut styles (including vintage and non-vintage) have grown by 20.4%, making them the fourth most popular category in the UK after Brut, rosé and cuvée spéciale.
Nevertheless, Brut Non-Vintage continues to dominate UK shipments, rising from 18.1 million bottles in 2024 to almost 18.9 million in 2025.
This growth is widely attributed to promotional pricing by leading Champagne brands in UK retail, particularly in the run-up to Christmas 2025.
As previously reported by db, the number of bottles of Champagne shipped worldwide, including the domestic market, totalled 266m in 2025 – representing a decline of 5m bottles, or a drop of 2% on the previous year.
The figures show that in terms of volumes shipped, Champagne has now reached the lowest level of the past 20 years, except for the anomalous 2020, when the first wave of Covid-related lockdowns saw shipments drop to 254m bottles from almost 300m the year before.
The majority of the decrease in 2025 volume shipments was due to France, which is Champagne’s largest single market and suffered a drop of almost 4m bottles from 118.2m in 2024 to 114m over the last year.
Commenting on the situation, Bollinger’s Charles-Armand de Belenet said, “The main challenge is decreasing Champagne consumption in France, which has fallen by 50 million bottles in the past few years.”
Such is the scale of this decrease, he said it was “almost impossible” for export markets to offset the drop-off, and hence the continued overall decline in shipment totals for Champagne.
Shipments of Champagne to the UK: 1996-2025
Year
Shipments (in volume, bottles)
Shipments (in value, Euros)
1996
20,240,883
195,149,800
1997
22,420,435
228,985,804
1998
24,389,908
265,975,489
1999
32,419,931
384,420,191
2000
20,578,553
268,126,968
2001
25,082,243
307,806,000
2002
31,690,734
369,758,403
2003
34,479,068
408,778,057
2004
34,936,891
434,303,085
2005
36,379,105
471,256,122
2006
36,801,216
495,509,404
2007
39,052,278
542,272,542
2008
35,997,252
519,004,060
2009
30,517,461
406,208,065
2010
35,494,489
455,017,615
2011
34,533,887
468,273,213
2012
32,450,435
465,066,361
2013
30,786,727
447,241,655
2014
32,675,232
477,296,552
2015
34,155,288
512,219,921
2016
31,189,040
440,341,078
2017
27,762,045
415,196,133
2018
26,769,192
406,276,451
2019
27,158,031
433,248,156
2020
21,270,195
338,351,474
2021
29,654,499
501,364,384
2022
27,656,088
544,301,624
2023
25,534,935
550,236,144
2024
22,308,00
518,726,000
2025
22,727,851 (+1.9% vs 2024)
488,088,000 (-5.9% vs 2024)
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