PARIS , May 14 (UPI) -- The world's top consumer of wine is no longer France; it's the United States, a report by the French wine industry said.
The Paris-based Organisation International de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV), a French wine industry group, said U.S. consumers increased their wine intake by 0.5 percent in 2013 to a total of 768.7 million gallons, putting the U.S. ahead of France, whose wine consumption fell by seven percent to 742.3 million gallons.
France has undergone some significant changes in its culinary habits. Wine consumption has been decreasing for years, largely because of stiffer penalties for drunk driving and an increased awareness of personal health. Only 17 percent of French adults say they drink wine daily, down from over 50 percent in 1980, and 38 percent say they drink no wine at all.
France is also McDonald's second largest worldwide market, after the United States.
The report Tuesday noted, however, that the French still drink six times more wine, per person, than Americans.
We drink less wine by volume (but) more quality wine," said OIV Director General Jean-Marie Aurand. "In the U.S. ... they have a tendency to consume more and more."
