(JBN) - Which countries in Europe drink the most wine? According to research conducted by the Wine Institute, the top country for per capita wine consumption in Europe may come as a surprise. The Vatican City drinks more wine per person than anywhere else in the world with residents of the Holy See consuming 54.26 litres every year.

Andorra, another tiny European country, comes second for per capita wine consumption with 46.26 litres per person each year. Croatia, Slovenia and France round off the top five. In France an average person will put away 42.51 litres over the course of a year.

The World’s Biggest Wine Producers

China now has the second-largest vineyard area in the world after Spain, with France falling to third position according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine. However, a question has to be asked: how often have you enjoyed a glass of Chinese wine with your evening meal? For most people, the answer would be not too often. Why? More vineyard area does not necessarily mean more wine. A substantial amount of China’s vineyard area is used for growing table grapes and dried fruit.

France still produces the world’s largest volume of wine. In 2014, its 792,000 hectares produced 46.7 million hectoliters with exports amounting to €7.7 billion. Italy is in second place with 44.7 hectoliters while Spain rounds off the top three with 41.6 million. There is a considerable gap to the United States in fourth position with 22.3 million hectoliters while all those Chinese vineyards only managed to churn out 11.1 million hectoliters.