Galicia is home to just under 40% of Spain’s winegrowers, according to a new report by Analistas Financieros Internacionales for the Interprofesional del Vino de España.
Galicia’s 219,356 growers make up 39.9% of the national total, making it the autonomous community with the largest number of growers. “The Economic and Social Importance of the Wine Sector in Galicia” confirms wine’s importance as a motor of the Galician economy and also reflects the role grape growing plays in stemming demographic losses sustained in rural Galicia.
Wine generates 1.4% of Galicia’s GDP and provides full-time employment for 15,900 people, over 55% of which are direct jobs. Likewise, viticulture, winemaking, and marketing generate around 890 million euros of Gross Value Added (GVA) per year and are responsible for a trade surplus of more than 50 million euros per year. The two main export markets are the United States and the United Kingdom, which together make up 43% of total exports.
In total, vineyards in Galicia occupy 33,283 hectares (82,244 acres), or 3.5% of Spain’s total vineyard area. Galicia’s DOs include about 25% of the region’s vineyards. One of Galicia’s most distinctive characteristics is its huge number of minifundios, or smallholdings. Two out of every three vineyards are less than one hectare (2.47 acres), while large vineyards (ten hectares or more) represent only 7% of the total. In rural areas, there has been a slightly lower rate of population loss in villages with vines than in villages without.
Galicia produces just under 78 million liters of wine per year, or about 2% of Spain’s total wine production. 86.7% of Galician wine production is concentrated in the provinces of Pontevedra and Ourense and Rías Baixas is the DO with the largest area under vine in Galicia, with more than 4,000 hectares (9,884 acres).