CHAMPERS SALES LOSE THEIR FIZZ

Lowest imports in 25 yrs while prosecco has a corker of a time

- SASKIA ROWLANDS

CHAMPAGNE sales are going flat, falling to a 25-year low.

Just 22.3 million bottles of French fizz were shipped to the UK in 2024 - the lowest since the millennium, when only 20.5 million were imported.

Experts blame the lag on the rise of teetotalism and alternatives such as trendy tipples like cocktails and craft beer, plus the unstable political climate and cost-of-living crisis making drinkers more wary.