French wine harvest forecast to hit 70-year low

French wine production is expected to fall to its lowest level in about 70 years after a summer of unprecedented heatwaves and drought, France's agriculture ministry said on Monday.

The ministry estimated production at nearly 33.9 million hectolitres as of September 1, down from 35.9 million hectolitres in 2025. A hectolitre is 100 litres.

The expected 2026 output would be 6 percent below last year's level and 17 percent below the average for 2021 to 2025, according to the ministry's statistics service.

France is the world's second-largest wine producer after Italy. The International Organisation of Vine and Wine said the 2025 figure was already a historic low, marking France's lowest production since 1957.

The ministry's statistics service attributed the expected 2026 decline to shrinking vineyards and lower yields caused by drought and summer heatwaves.

Regional forecasts differ. In Champagne, output is expected to be cut by half compared with both 2025 and the five-year average. In Languedoc-Roussillon, the harvest is expected to rise 5 percent from a weak 2025 crop because of improved yields, but remain 8 percent below the 2021-2025 average.

France last week announced more than one billion euros in emergency support for farmers, but agricultural groups said the package fell short of needs.