Kiwi wine exports hit billion dollar mark

New Zealand's wine industry has hit the billion dollar mark for annual exports, a full year earlier than it had expected.

Chief executive of New Zealand Winegrowers, Philip Gregan, said today that Statistics NZ figures showed wine exports hit $1.01 billion in the year to 31 July.

This is the equivalent of five bottles per second.

"The phenomenal long-term growth of New Zealand wine exports has been based on a industry-wide commitment to world class quality, in our vineyards, in our wineries and in our marketing and sales efforts," said Gregan.

A recent report had shown wine exports have grown at a compound rate of nearly 24 per cent (23.8 per cent) each year for the past 20 years, four times the growth rate for all goods exports.

The industry supports 16,500 full time jobs and represents 2.2 per cent of total goods exported.

"The wine industry has grown to become an important and internationally-competitive part of the New Zealand economy," said Gregan.