Domestic sales dipped by 1.7% year-on-year to 138.4 million bottles, but exports surged by 4.3% to 187.5 million bottles.
That pushed the overall category into modest volume growth, with sales up from 321.8 million bottles in 2021 to 325.9 million last year.
Value sales also smashed through the €6bn (£5.26bn) barrier for the first time, suggesting that the industry has now emerged relatively unscathed from the pandemic.
Maxime Toubart, co-president of the Comité Champagne, hailed the figures as ‘a reward for the efforts of the Champagne producers to maintain the position of Champagne as an outstanding wine’ during a tough few years.
Global sales reached 297.5 million bottles in 2019, but dropped to 245 million in 2020, as there was little cause for celebration around the world.
They rebounded in 2021 and then hit new heights last year, driven by the rise in exports to countries such as the US and the UK.
Exports accounted for 45% of Champagne sales a decade ago, but they now represent 57% of sales.
David Chatillon, president of the Union des Maisons de Champagne and co-president of the Comité Champagne, said: ‘Champagne, as the supreme wine of celebrations, has been the natural choice of the world’s consumers as they rejoiced at the end of lockdowns and rediscovered a taste for parties, for going out and for travelling.’
The Comité Champagne added that global geopolitical and economic circumstances may encourage a ‘prudent outlook’ for 2023, but declared the Champagne growers and producers remain confident in the basic health of their businesses.
That sentiment is bolstered by the quality and quantity of the 2022 harvest, which resulted in an available yield of 12,000 kilograms per hectare.
That is the highest level in 15 years, resulting from the lack of spring frosts and hailstorms during the vintage.
