South Africa's wine industry produces abundance of grapes

The most significant impact of spring conditions was prolonged waterlogging of soils, which directly affected the root system and access to necessary plant stocks. This was reported by Pretoria News, a partner of TV BRICS.

The summer trend was noticeably warmer and drier than last year, which made harvesting even more difficult. One of the outstanding aspects of this season was the exceptional sanitary condition of the grapes – a rarity in rainy harvest seasons and evidence of the sustainability and adaptability of the industry.

According to the latest expert assessment, the grape harvest in 2024 collected 1,099,051 tonnes from 87,848 hectares.

This, combined with high market demand, has led to the fact that wine stocks in the industry have reached equilibrium.

With almost 4 per cent of the world's wine produced there, South Africa ranks as the seventh-largest wine producer worldwide. Over 56.5 billion rand are contributed to the country's GDP by the wine sector, which also employs 270,364 people along the value chain, 85,962 of whom work in cellars and farms.