The EU has imported more and more organic fruit and vegetables

The growth of the European market for organic food products continues. But according to a recent study, imports of organic agrifood products in 2020 decreased slightly in volume, except for fruits and vegetables.

 

According to the  "EU imports of organic agri-food products - Key developments in 2020" study published by the European Commission, in 2020 the European Union imported 2.79 million tonnes of organic agri-food products. This represents a decrease of 1.9% compared to the 2.85 million tonnes imported in 2019. Basic products (cereals, oilseeds, oils, sugar, rice, milk, coffee, etc.) represented 48% of 2020 orgnaic imports in volume, but their share represents only 29% in value.

 

Fruits and vegetables are the largest group of imported organic product categories, with 1.29 million tonnes imported in 2020, or 46% of total organic imports.

 

The largest share is made up of tropical fruits, nuts and spices (65% of organic fruits and vegetables) with in particular bananas (81% of tropical fruits). In 2020, imports of tropical fruits, nuts and spices increased in volume by + 9%, those of citrus by + 31%, those of other organic fruits by + 7%. Only imports of organic fruit juices varied by -11%. Imports of vegetables edged up 0.7%.

 

The EU's top 10 trading partners for organic products are Ecuador (11.6% of total volume), Dominican Republic (9%), China (8.1%), Ukraine (7, 8%), Peru (7.2%), India (6.2%), Turkey (5.6%), Colombia (3.8%), Brazil (2.4%) and Mexico (2.4%).

 

 

Entry into the EU for organic products takes place mainly through the Netherlands, which receives 31% of imported volumes. This is followed by Germany, which receives 18% of volumes, Belgium 11% and France 10%.

 

 

To consult the full report (21 pages) https://ec.europa.eu/agri-market-brief-18-organic-imports_en.pdf