Asia Defies the Global Wine Slump: 9 Markets Ranked by Import Growth

As the global wine market continues to struggle, Asia remains one of the few regions showing pockets of growth – at least according to import data from the first half of 2026.

Vino Joy News analyzed wine imports across nine representative Asian markets from January through June. Only two recorded declines in both import volume and value, while the other seven posted growth on at least one measure. More importantly, the gains were not confined to smaller emerging markets. Major economies including Japan, South Korea, mainland China and Hong Kong also recorded growth in import value.

The figures suggest that opportunities in Asia’s wine market are not limited to a handful of fast-growing economies. For international wineries and merchants, the region still offers a sizable consumer base and room for expansion, although individual markets are at very different stages of development and are being driven by different forces.

The nine markets covered in this analysis span East and Southeast Asia. Hong Kong is a major wine trading, distribution and re-export hub, while Japan, South Korea and Taiwan combine relatively high per capita incomes with mature wine cultures. Mainland China, meanwhile, has an enormous population and economy that make it impossible to ignore, even though wine consumption remains relatively underdeveloped.

The analysis also includes emerging markets such as India, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia. Many international wineries have pinned hopes on these countries as future sources of growth, but their actual performance varies considerably.

India’s wine import market remains small, with extremely low imports on a per capita basis, indicating that wine penetration among its vast population is still limited. Thailand has benefited from tariff reductions, international tourism and wellness-related consumption, helping imports grow in value, although per capita imports remain well below those of mature markets such as Japan and South Korea.

By comparison, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan demonstrate stronger underlying consumption and greater resilience. Mainland China presents a different proposition: It is not yet a mature wine market, but its enormous population and economic scale give it potential that few others can match.

From the resilience of mature markets to the promise of emerging ones and the sheer scale of mainland China, there is no single Asian wine story. Import data from the first half of 2026 instead point to several distinct paths that wine consumption across the region could take in the years ahead.

Here are the nine Asian markets, ranked by wine import value in the first half of 2026.

Scroll through the pages below to view them all.