PARIS World wine production is expected to fall to its lowest level in 60 years in 2023 due to poor harvests in the Southern Hemisphere and in some major European producers, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) said on Tuesday.

In initial projections, the OIV pegged world wine output, excluding juices and musts, at between 241.7 million and 246.6 million hectolitres (mhl), with a mid-range estimate of 244.1 mhl.

This would be 7% lower than last year and the smallest since 1961 when it had fallen to 214 mhl, the OIV said. A hectolitre is the equivalent of 133 standard wine bottles.

(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)