Sales of Spanish sparkling wine Cava dropped again last year, attributed to the knock-on effect of drought on production, new findings show.
In its latest global report for 2025, the Regulatory Board of the D.O. Cava said sales volumes of the sparkling wine dropped 12.9% last year versus the previous 12 months, with a total of 190 million bottles sold.
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“This trend has been primarily driven by production limitations resulting from the drought of recent years, which has affected product availability rather than reflecting a drop in demand,” the representative body said.
Cava sales volumes were also down in 2024, down by just over 13% to 218.1 million bottles, as the sector faced “climatic challenges arising from the persistent drought”, the group said at the time.
Sales by value of Cava edged just over €2m ($2.3m) in 2025. Just Drinks has asked D.O Cava for 2024 sales figures.
Citing data from Circana’s consumption barometer, D.O Cava said the sparkling wine made up 90.3% of all sparkling wines produced in Catalonia last year and 73.8% of those produced in Spain.
In international markets, sales volumes of Cava declined 18.7% to 113.9 million bottles in 2025, while in the sparkling wine’s domestic market volumes dipped 2.5% to 76.1 million bottles.
Spain made up 40.1% of Cava sales volumes in the year while international markets made up 59.9%.
Sales value of Cava did grow in its home market last year but D.O Cava did not disclose by how much in its report.
Out of Cava’s global markets, Belgium remained top in 2025, though sales volumes declined 13.5% to 17.5 million bottles.
In Cava’s second-largest market, the US, sales volumes dropped 18% in the year to 14.5 million bottles.
Declines in sales volumes were also seen in the UK and Sweden, the third and fourth largest markets for Cava in 2025. In the UK, sales volumes dropped nearly 12% to 13.8 million bottles while in Sweden they fell 13.4% to 10.9 million bottles.
Cava did book growth in sales volumes in other parts of Europe. In Latvia, sales shot up 22.3%, though from a smaller base compared to other markets, to 880 million bottles.
Sales volumes of Cava also grew 6.6% in Norway and 6.8% in South Korea, while growth in Lithuania and the Netherlands was flatter at just over 1% in each market.
In its statement, the representative body added “higher value-added segments” in Cava performed well in the year.
The ‘superior reserve’ Cava varieties, which includes gran reserva and cava de paraje calificado, saw sales volumes rise 1.4% in 2025. The paraje calificado sparkling wine saw “particularly strong growth” with sales volumes up 82.4%.
President of the DO Cava regulatory board Javier Pagés said the varieties “represent significant potential”.
He said that “2025 confirms how the D.O. has clearly committed to value enhancement, quality, extended ageing and origin zoning,” adding, “the figures show that, even in a year affected by drought, higher value-added segments continue to gain weight within the category”.
