EU Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

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March 29, 2022

EU farmers produced 41 million tons of fresh fruit and 48 million tons of fresh vegetables in 2021, about the same as in previous years. The most important fruit by weight was apples, 11.5 million tons, followed by oranges, 6.3 million tons, and watermelons, 3.2 million tons. The leading non-potato vegetables by weight were onions, 6.9 million tons, fresh tomatoes, 6.2 million tons, and carrots, 4.5 million tons.

EU farmers produced 31 million tons of fresh fruit and 48 million tons of fresh vegetables in 2021

Production Volume ('000 tonnes)
Fresh Fruit	2018	2019	2020	2021p
Apples	13,056	10,578	10,509	11,544
Oranges	6,515	6,102	6,387	6,310
Watermelons	3,192	3,010	3,086	3,219
Easy peelers	2,776	2,894	3,155	3,100
Peaches	2,640	2,764	2,493	2,278
Melons	1,791	1,723	1,720	1,993
Table grapes	1,788	1,747	1,745	1,724
Pears	2,335	1,939	2,219	1,589
Nectarines	1,198	1,285	990	855
Other	10,886	9,248	9,346	8,621
Total	46,177	41,290	41,651	41,235
Sources: AMI-informiert.de; Euronion; Europech; Eurostat; WAPA

Production Volume ('000 tonnes)
Fresh Vegetables¹	2018	2019	2020	2021p
Onions, dry	5,332	6,649	6,252	6,890
Tomatoes²	6,752	6,263	6,238	6,170
Carrots	4,480	4,737	4,693	4,561
Cabbage	3,258	3,273	3,108	3,139
Peppers	2,656	2,844	2,908	3,129
Cucumbers	2,291	2,381	2,400	2,534
Lettuce	2,327	2,402	2,346	2,022
Cauliflower	2,237	2,157	2,175	1,760
Courgettes	1,536	1,552	1,651	1,417
Other	15,551	16,211	16,453	16,446
Total	46,421	48,469	48,224	48,068
¹ Excluding potatoes
² Excluding tomatoes for processing
Sources: AMI-informiert.de; Euronion; Europech; Eurostat; WAPA

Spain was the leading producer of both fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, accounting for a third of the EU’s fresh fruit and almost a quarter of the EU’s fresh vegetables. Italy was the second leading producer of both fresh fruit and vegetables, and Poland was third in fresh fruit and the Netherlands third in fresh vegetables.

Spain produced almost a third of the EU’s fresh fruit and a quarter of the EU’s fresh vegetables

Production Volume ('000 tonnes)
Fresh Fruit	2018	2019	2020	2021p
Spain	13,858	12,950	13,480	13,000
Italy	11,086	10,486	10,289	9,805
Poland	5,862	3,770	4,304	5,240
Greece	3,408	2,981	3,155	2,774
France	3,013	3,108	2,737	2,602
Romania	2,325	1,930	2,023	2,000
Germany	1,561	1,330	1,329	1,263
Portugal	1,117	1,281	1,159	1,260
Hungary	925	733	575	702
Netherlands	760	752	730	687
Belgium	658	642	626	648
Bulgaria	357	361	312	330
Austria	284	225	193	188
Croatia	212	177	167	180
Czechia	189	130	143	142
Cyprus	118	105	86	85
Slovenia	106	70	84	83
Sweden	49	41	49	48
Denmark	52	43	58	47
Slovakia	55	47	39	38
Lithunia	94	42	36	35
Ireland	26	26	19	19
Other EU	61	60	57	56
Total	46,177	41,290	41,651	41,235
Sources: AMI-informiert.de; Euronion; Europech; Eurostat; WAPA

Production Volume ('000 tonnes)
Fresh Vegetables³	2018	2019	2020	2021p
Spain	9,868	10,391	10,151	10,500
Italy	7,179	7,407	7,345	6,955
Netherlands	4,626	5,484	5,383	5,615
Poland	5,601	5,354	5,243	5,020
France	5,076	5,263	5,160	4,981
Germany	3,255	3,707	3,693	3,767
Romania	2,031	1,865	1,806	1,800
Belgium	1,620	1,777	1,726	1,727
Hungary	1,640	1,717	1,701	1,656
Greece	1,660	1,445	1,583	1,540
Portugal	799	794	1,101	1,100
Austria	563	611	644	675
Bulgaria	453	431	343	400
Sweden	308	346	395	386
Denmark	307	300	303	321
Finland	267	294	297	296
Czechia	199	226	252	252
Ireland	204	219	222	221
Lithunia	208	230	220	219
Croatia	156	144	187	170
Slovenia	100	119	136	136
Slovakia	103	122	115	115
Other EU	199	222	217	216
Total	46,421	48,469	48,224	48,068
³ Excluding products grown for processing
Sources: AMI-informiert.de; Euronion; Europech; Eurostat; WAPA

Spain’s major fresh fruit by weight was oranges; the 3.5 million tons produced in 2021 were a quarter of the country’s 13 million tons of fresh fruit production. Fresh tomatoes were Spain’s leading fresh vegetable, accounting for a sixth of the 10 million tons produced.

Oranges and tomatoes were the leading fresh fruit and vegetable produced in Spain

Production Volume ('000 tonnes)
Fresh Fruit	2018	2019	2020	2021p
Oranges	3,930	3,343	3,493	3,503
Easy peelers	2,385	1,832	2,346	2,100
Watermelons	1,092	1,211	1,235	1,319
Lemons	1,149	931	1,142	1,020
Melons	664	642	611	650
Apples¹	484	571	446	507
Peaches¹	623	666	534	490
Strawberries	345	352	273	361
Nectarines	547	573	484	320
Table grapes	273	332	298	307
Other	2,366	2,497	2,618	2,423
Total	13,858	12,950	13,480	13,000
¹ Excluding products grown for processing
Sources: AMI-informiert.de; DGA; Eurostat; Europech; Fepex;

Production Volume ('000 tonnes)
Fresh Vegetables²	2018	2019	2020	2021p
Tomatoes¹	2,070	2,008	1,821	1,703
Onions	1,431	1,600	1,132	1,567
Peppers¹	1,155	1,312	1,393	1,430
Lettuce	935	1,009	962	1,157
Cucumbers	644	739	795	753
Courgettes	596	602	631	633
Broccoli	543	532	591	600
Carrots	382	386	393	417
Garlic	274	275	269	309
Other	1,838	1,928	2,164	1,931
Total	9,868	10,391	10,151	10,500
¹ Excluding products grown for processing
² Excluding potatoes
Sources: AMI-informiert.de; DGA; Eurostat; Europech; Fepex;

The UK, which left the EU in 2020, is a major importer of fruits and vegetables. About 30 percent of UK fresh fruit imports by volume were bananas, and a sixth of UK fresh vegetable imports were tomatoes.

Britain’s leading fresh fruit import was bananas, and the leading fresh vegetable import tomatoes

Imports Volume ('000 tonnes)
Fresh Fruit	2018	2019	2020	2021p
Bananas	1,074	1,080	1,033	1,030
Apples	372	338	337	338
Melons	319	323	314	318
Easy peelers	288	292	314	310
Table grapes	274	283	276	280
Oranges	271	266	265	255
Lemons/Limes	160	162	166	160
Pineapples	160	161	135	140
Pears	120	115	106	102
Other	623	637	601	607
Total	3,661	3,657	3,547	3,540
Sources: AMI-informiert.de; Defra; Eurostat

Imports Volume ('000 tonnes)
Fresh Vegetables¹	2018	2019	2020	2021p
Tomatoes	411	409	380	355
Onions	400	477	298	300
Lettuce	216	217	228	215
Peppers	194	205	219	208
Cucumbers	169	189	194	195
Cauliflower/Broccoli	138	136	127	140
Mushrooms	130	132	114	135
Celery	54	53	59	65
Other	556	538	561	547
Total	2,268	2,356	2,180	2,160
¹ Including products grown for processing
Sources: AMI-informiert.de; Defra; Eurostat

Trade. The EU sends fruits and vegetables from one EU member state to another, as from Spain to Germany, and imports fruits and vegetables from non-EU countries. Some 12 million tons of fresh fruit were imported from non-EU countries in 2021; over 40 percent of EU fresh fruit imports were bananas. About two million tons of fresh vegetables were imported. A third of EU fresh vegetable imports were tomatoes, often from Morocco, followed by an eighth onions, often from New Zealand.

The leading EU fresh fruit import was bananas, and the leading fresh vegetable import was tomatoes

Imports – Extra-EU Volume ('000 tonnes)
Fresh Fruit	2018	2019	2020	2021p
Bananas	5,119	5,044	5,292	5,244
Oranges	915	822	930	872
Pineapples	895	881	775	822
Avocados	533	532	604	654
Table grapes	518	520	498	569
Easy peelers	348	341	411	430
Watermelons	351	373	421	420
Lemons	434	332	391	409
Apples	439	366	360	348
Other	2,225	2,177	2,333	2,307
Total	11,777	11,387	12,015	12,075
Sources: AMI-informiert.de; Eurostat

Imports – Extra-EU Volume ('000 tonnes)
Fresh Vegetables¹	2018	2019	2020	2021p
Tomatoes	576	583	621	669
Onions	250	536	275	304
Peppers	210	201	220	234
Cucumbers	71	72	100	124
Carrots	122	112	79	73
Courgettes	63	64	59	60
Mushrooms	19	30	30	28
Lettuce	19	21	16	16
Cauliflower	9	12	11	10
Other	540	555	561	588
Total	1,878	2,187	1,972	2,106
¹ Including products grown for processing
Sources: AMI-informiert.de; Eurostat

The Netherlands is the leading importer of fresh fruit, including fruit that arrives in the EU’s largest port in Rotterdam and is shipped to other EU countries. Germany, which has almost 20 percent of EU residents, is the leading consumer of fresh fruit, including that produced in the EU and fruit imported from non-EU countries.

The Netherlands and Germany account for a third of EU fresh fruit imports from other EU member states and non-EU countries

Imports – Intra + Extra-EU ('000 tonnes)
Fresh Fruit	2018	2019	2020	2021p
Netherlands	5,034	5,154	5,391	5,531
Germany	5,391	5,456	5,662	5,226
France	3,450	3,433	3,429	3,575
Belgium	2,409	2,164	2,245	2,222
Spain	1,833	1,752	1,839	1,971
Italy	2,004	2,061	2,062	1,953
Poland	1,579	1,616	1,706	1,682
Portugal	869	841	903	890
Romania	780	804	815	826
Austria	696	708	719	673
Sweden	653	666	679	652
Other	4,173	4,215	4,145	4,215
Total	28,872	28,868	29,596	29,415
Sources: AMI-informiert.de; CSO; Ctifl; FPJ; GfK; Eurostat; Kantar; MAPA

Germany was the leading importer of fresh vegetables from other EU member states and non-EU countries

Imports – Intra + Extra-EU ('000 tonnes)
Fresh Vegetables¹	2018	2019	2020	2021p
Germany	3,299	3,366	3,503	3,301
France	1,939	1,907	1,886	1,920
Netherlands	1,401	1,496	1,407	1,532
Belgium	1,096	1,099	1,143	1,146
Poland	614	827	779	764
Spain	648	663	642	678
Italy	651	733	651	639
Czechia	513	480	471	466
Romania	374	363	356	397
Sweden	347	357	348	335
Austria	332	338	314	326
Other	2,093	2,098	2,005	2,037
Total	13,307	13,727	13,505	13,542
¹ Excluding potatoes
Sources: AMI-informiert.de; CSO; Ctifl; FPJ; GfK; Eurostat; Kantar; MAPA

References

Fruit Logistica. 2022. European Statistics Handbook 2022.

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