Consumer demand for Australian wines remains strong

Overseas sales jumped 24% in the year to June 2003, government figures showed, taking total exports to 2.1bn Australian dollars (US$1.65bn; �870m).

The rise in exports to 518 million litres occurred despite lower production than in the previous year.

In contrast, French winemakers are suffering from sliding sales both at home and abroad.

Wine industry leaders are meeting the French prime minister this week for crisis talks about the 10% slide in exports and 5% drop in domestic sales.

For Australia, however, the figures published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics also demonstrate growing demand within Australia for the home-grown product.

Domestic consumption was more than 400 million litres - more than 25 bottles a head.

Only 17 million litres was imported, albeit an 18% increase on the previous year.

As far as overseas sales are concerned, the European Union was the biggest market with A$1.1bn of exports, largely thanks to strong demand in the UK.