Browse Data and Analysis

The cold and wet winter of 2023 provided favorable conditions for deciduous fruit and aided in improved production volumes. Production is expected to grow and improve in quality from MY 2022/23 when fruit was affected by hail damage.

South African production of lemons is forecast to rise by 10 percent in MY 2023/24 on sufficient irrigation and greater input investments by producers, while tangerine/mandarins production is forecast to increase by 4 percent.

The combination of drought, water irrigation limitations and abnormally high temperatures during flowering and fruit-setting phases have limited the EU’s citrus production potential in MY 2023/24, which is projected to stay at similar levels as the also short MY 2022/23 crop.

World peach and nectarine1 production has seen significant growth in the past decade, rising more than 20 percent from 19.6 million tons to 24.2 million in 2022/23.

Despite industry consolidation resulting in limited expansion, deciduous fruit production is expected to grow marginally as plantings come into production.

EU commercial apple production in Marketing Year (MY) 2023/24 is forecast at 11.5 MMT, a decrease of 2.45% compared to the previous year.

Dutch apple production is expected to be down by 12 percent while the pear harvest will increase by an estimated three percent. Unfavorable growing conditions in the beginning of the growing season resulted in lower yields for apples.

On August 2-4, 2023, the World Apple and Pear Association (WAPA) presented the 2023 EU apple and pear crop forecast at the 48th edition of the Prognosfruit convention.

In MY 2023/24, EU production of peaches and nectarines is estimated to amount to 3.6 million MT while cherry production is anticipated to amount to 657,435 MT.

The total cherry production forecast in Türkiye in Marketing Year (MY) 2023/24 is 900,000 metric tons (MT), which is 8 percent higher than MY 2022/23, due to favorable weather and soil conditions.

Germany is the third-largest importer of cherries in the world after China/Hong Kong and Russia. From 2010 to 2022, between 52 and 77 percent of the cherries consumed in Germany were imported, with the majority of imports originating in other EU member states.

The Spanish strawberry sector is robust, with production mainly destined for the domestic market, the EU, and UK. Other berry production, especially blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, has become an alternative in recent years to strawberry production as a value-added crop for Spanish farmers.