(TheDrinksBusiness) - The area under vine in Australia has continued to fall in 2012, while there was a slight increase in production, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) as part of the ABS Vineyards collection 2012. Since 2010, the total area of grape vines has decreased by 6%, falling to 145,000 hectares, while total wine grape production increased by 3% to 1.6 million tonnes, thanks to favourable seasonal conditions. The decrease in vine area was the result of challenging market conditions leading to the removal or abandonment of vineyards. However, this was offset by good ripening weather in many areas, which saw the overall average yield increase by 6% to 11 tonnes per hectare.