A Wine Australia report has noted that wine exports in Australia have increased in value and volume over a period of 12 months ending December 2017.

Having increased by 15% to A$2.56bn ($2bn), the growth in export value is said to be the highest since 2004. Volume increased by 8% to 811 million litres.

Wine Australia CEO Andreas Clark said: “Growing demand for premium Australian wine, particularly in Northeast Asia, increased the value of bottled wine exports by 17% to $2.1bn, while the average price per litre for bottled wine grew by 3% to a record $5.63.”

“Growing demand for premium Australian wine, particularly in Northeast Asia, increased the value of bottled wine exports by 17% to $2.1bn.”

The report also indicated a price increase of 10% to A$440 ($352m) for wines exported in bulk, where an average value-per-litre increase of 6% to A$1.03 ($1.04).

The Northeast Asian market is said to be one of the major growth drivers for Australian wine. It has registered an increase of 47% and reached more than A$1bn ($801m) for the first time.

In addition, wine exports to China increased over the last decade supported by the China–Australia Free Trade Agreement that was signed in 2015.

Last year, the value of wine exports to China increased by 63% to A$848m ($680m), which is 33% of the total wine exports from Australia.

In contrast, Australian wine exports to the North American market are reported to have decreased by 2% to A$636m ($510m). However, exports to the US market are reported to have increased by 8% to A$45m ($36m).