Italy this year is likely to surpass France to become the world's biggest wine consumer, according to the Federation of Italian farmers (Cia).
The prediction was based on a study carried out by the British research group ISWR/DGR and commissioned by France's most important wine trade fair, Vinexpo in Bordeaux.
Cia said the study found that France will lose its leadership in wine consumption this year because while consumption there is falling, as it is in Spain, in Italy it will remain stable.
According to the report, wine consumption will continue to rise in the United States, Germany and Britain, while a surge is expected in China and India.
This surge, the report said, will lead China to become the world's biggest wine consumer by the year 2010. It is currently in 10th place.
Global wine consumption between now and 2010 is expected to climb by over 10%, for a total value of 90 billion euros.
This will put the wine sector on the same level for turnover as the cosmetics industry or the combined earnings of the four leading information technology giants: Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and eBay.
