Hospitality

Go Figure: B.C.’s wine industry by the numbers

The numbers on the province's wine industry and its impact on the economy get the centre-stage in this month's Go Figure.

By Melissa Edwards /

Total annual economic impact of the B.C. wine industry

$2.8 billion

Provincial wine industry workers in 2017

12,000

 

17 grape wineries in B.C. in 1990 

275+ grape wineries today

929 individual vineyards

4,130 total hectares of grapevines

60 grape varietals

14,046,430 litres of B.C. VQA wine sold in 2017-2018, more than 1.5 million cases

Provincial market share, by litres sold, of B.C. VQA wines last November: 19% 

B.C. vineyards located in the Okanagan Valley:

1932 The province’s oldest commercial winery established: Kelowna’s Calona Vineyards, now operating under Andrew Peller

$283.90 per capita annual spending on wine in B.C., 2016-2017

20% higher than the Canadian average

35% of total provincial alcohol spending

2.3 litres per person

B.C. exports wine to 17 international markets

Sources: B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Agriculture Canada, B.C. Wine Institute, BC Liquor Distribution Branch, Statistics Canada

Melissa Edwards

Melissa Edwards