The People's Republic of China is now among the ten largest suppliers of vegetables to the European Union (EU), although this is little more than an anecdote, because its volume of sales represents only 1.35 percent of the total, while vegetable sales made to the EU by the first three countries on the ranking, the Netherlands, Spain and France, account for 51.48 percent of the total.
In 2015, member states of the EU purchased a total of 25,855.11 million kilos of vegetables and 32,021.66 million kilos of fruit (including citrus), representing a total of 57,876.77 million kilos of fruit and vegetables, according to data from the statistical service Euroestacom (ICEX-Eurostat) with codes 07 (vegetables) and 08 (fruits) of the Tariff Integrated Tariff of the European Communities (TARIC).
The total value of EU fruit and vegetable purchases was of 64,247.07 million Euro, of which 22,672.57 million correspond to vegetables and 41,574.49 million to fruit.
The average price of all fruits and vegetables bought by the EU during the past year was of 1.327 Euro per kilo; for vegetables, the average stood at 0.877 €/kg, while for fruit, the EU paid 1.298 Euro per kilo.
Suppliers
Spain leads the ranking of suppliers of vegetables and fruits to the European Union, with 18.5 percent of the total volume. It sold the Union 10,705.12 million kilos of produce. The value of those sales has totalled 11,654.7 million Euro, with an average price of 1.089 Euro per kilo.
Of the total sold by Spain, 4,644.68 million kilos correspond to vegetables (17.96 percent of the total), with a value of 4,926.47 million Euro and an average price of 1.061 Euro per kilo. The remaining 6,060.44 million kilos (18.93%), corresponded to fruit and citrus, whose sales reached a value of 6,728.23 million Euro and an average price of 1.11 Euro per kilo.
The Netherlands is the second largest fruit and vegetable supplier to the European Union, with total sales of vegetables and fruits reaching 8,138.87 million kilos (14.06%), sold for 8,943.48 million Euro, with an average price of 1.099 Euro per kilo. Of this amount, 4,997.67 kilos (19.33%) corresponded to vegetables, with a value of 4,827.41 million Euro and an average price of 0.966 Euro per kilo, while fruit sales amounted to 3,141.19 million kilos worth 4,116.06 million Euro; an average price of 1.31 Euro per kilo.
The third most important supplier was France, with global fruit and vegetable sales reaching 4,736.69 million kilos (8.18%), for which the country received 2,950.69 million Euro; an average price of 0.623 Euro per kilo. The volume of vegetables sold by France was of 3,667.98 million kilos (14.19%) with a value of 1,640.78 million Euro and an average price of 0.447 Euro per kilo, while the volume of fruit stood at 1,068.71 million kilos (3.34%), worth 1,309.91 million Euro, with an average price of 1.226 Euro per kilo.
Morocco is in the eleventh place of the ranking, with 1,122.36 million kilos of vegetables and fruits (1.94%), a value of 1,357.91 million Euro and an average price of 1.21 Euro per kilo . The volume of vegetables sold by Morocco reached 697.99 million kilos (2.7%), with a value of 866.08 million Euro and an average price of 1.241 Euro per kilo, while the volume of fruit was of 424.36 million kilos (1.33%) worth 491.83 million Euro, with an average price of 1.159 Euro/kilo.
Turkey appears in the twelfth position among the largest EU suppliers. Its total volume was of 1,005.98 million kilos (1.74%), for which the country received 2,354.24 million Euro; an average of 2.34 Euro per kilo. The volume of Turkish vegetables sold to the EU reached 242.92 million kilos (0.94%), with a value of 266.75 million Euro and an average price of 1.098 Euro per kilo. Meanwhile, Turkish fruit sales totalled 763.05 million kilos (2.38%) and generated 2,087.49 million Euro, with an average price of 2.736 Euro per kilo.
China, which ranks tenth, sold the EU a total of 348.64 million kilos of vegetables at an average price of 1.555 Euro per kilo, reaching a total value of 542.02 million Euro. Looking at fruit sales alone, China is the thirty fourth largest supplier, with 175.76 million kilos, 391.17 million Euro and an average price of 2.225 Euro per kilo.
