Last year, according to the Foundation of Assistance Programmes for Agriculture (FAMMU/FAPA), Poland exported fewer than 680 thousand tonnes of fresh vegetables and almost 1 million 113 thousand tonnes of fruit. Compared to 2014, this is about 10 percent less vegetables and 19 percent less fruit than in the previous year. The main reason for the drop is the impact of the Russian embargo.
As reported by the Foundation, the largest importers of Polish fruit and vegetables were the EU countries, which received 561.5 thousand tonnes of vegetables and 575.5 thousand tonnes of fruit. In both cases, considerable increases were recorded in the volume of purchases; for vegetables, of slightly less than 100 thousand tonnes, and for fruit, of 181 thousand tonnes.
The second largest importer of Polish products was the EUG (the Eurasian Economic Union, formed by Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan), where Poland shipped 92.3 thousand tonnes of vegetables and close to 367 thousand tonnes of fruit. The clear downward trend in exports to the EUG was the result of the Russian embargo, in place since August 2014.
Polish fruit exports were dominated by apples, with a volume of 888 thousand tonnes, while mushrooms reached the most noteworthy figures when it comes to vegetables, with more than 201 thousand tonnes.
In the same year, Poland imported from other countries more than 523 thousand tonnes of fresh vegetables (approximately 20 thousand tonnes less than in the previous year), mainly from the EU, and 1 million 434 thousand tonnes of fruit, only 17 thousand tonnes more than a year earlier. The most imported products were bananas, with 377.3 thousand tonnes, and citrus fruits, with 470.7 thousand tonnes.
