Cognac exports fell in value and volume terms in 2025 amid a period of global “geopolitical and economic uncertainty”, trade-body the BNIC said.

BNIC attributed the downturn to tariff measures in China and the US, the two largest markets for Cognac by value and volume, respectively.

Global shipments slid 15.1% to 141 million bottles for the year. In 2024, global shipments had increased 0.4% in volume terms to 166 million bottles even though value dropped 10.6%.

In value terms, ex-cellars revenue in Cognac dropped sharply by 25.3% in 2025 to €2.24bn ($2.6bn) compared with the previous year.

The declines affected all quality categories, with VS shipments falling 16.2%, VSOP by 11.5%, and XO and above by 23.2%.

The NAFTA zone saw volumes decline 19.4% to 56.9 million bottles, while value plunged 34% to €737.3m.

In the Far East, dominated by China along with Singapore, shipments fell 20.5% to 37.7 million bottles. Value dropped 23.1% in this region to €861.1m.

Europe reported a 10.9% volume drop to 28.2 million bottles, and a 22% value decline to €359.5m.

The UK held its position as the fifth-largest export market with 7.3 million bottles, ahead of France in sixth place at 3.5 million bottles.

Some markets offered “positive signals”, the BNIC noted. The markets included South Africa, which ranked fourth among export destinations.

In January, Cognac producers in France agreed to finance a plan to pull out their own vines and called on merchants to help co-fund the initiative.

At the time, the Union Générale des Viticulteurs pour l’AOC Cognac (UGVC) said that winegrowers had “decided to initially finance the interprofessional portion of the scheme itself”.

The €6,000 per hectare sum will be funded “through a mandatory voluntary contribution”, the UGVC said.