The European Union (EU) imported 2,010,635 tons of citrus in 2021, 50,500 tons less than a year earlier.
South Africa is the EU’s top external citrus supplier. In total, 793,567 tons were imported in 2021. Which is 1.4% more than in 2020 and 26.1% more than the average of the last five campaigns.
Second place goes to Egypt, with 339,821 tons in 2021 (+19.2% and +43.1%, respectively). It is closely followed by Turkey, which places 229,102 tons in the EU (-11.0% and -7.8%).
Even so, in 2021 citrus imports from non-EU countries fell compared to 2020. However, compared to the average of the last five years (1,922,630 tons), they have rebounded by 4.6%.
The most imported citrus fruit by the EU from third countries is orange (906,664 tons in 2021), whose volume fell by 4% compared to 2020. Nevertheless, this percentage was up 8% compared to the average of the last five years. In 2020, the record entries for the 2013/21 period were beaten, with a volume of 944,173 tons.
The second category with the most entries corresponds to small citrus, with 451,721 tons in 2021. That is, 11.4% more than a year earlier and 34.7% more than the average of the last five years. Moreover, its volume has doubled in the 2013/21 period, from 213,249 tons to last year’s record.
In the last four months of 2021, the EU received 151,549 tons of small citrus fruits. A figure that implies growth of 39.3% more than in the same period of 2020 and 47.8% above the figure measured in the 2016/20 period.
The entry of lemons from third countries amounted to 407,042 tons last year (+4.0% compared to 2020 and 9.5% compared to the average of the last five years). Similarly, in the 2013/21 period, the highest volume corresponded to 2018 (434,058 tons).
As for the first four months of the 2021/22 season, Europe has imported almost 144,000 tons, 39.8% more than in the same period of the previous season and +30.9% above the average of the previous five.
Source: Agrodiario