Exports of fresh fruit and vegetables jumped 35.9 pct in July compared with the same month last year, Incofruit-Hellas said in a report released on Wednesday. More specifically, exports totaled 179,435 tons in July, from 145,890 in July 2019, with the value rising to 120,497,042 euros from 88,660,342 euros, over the same periods, respectively.
In the seven-month period from January to July, exports of fruit and vegetables grew 23.1 pct compared with the corresponding period last year, totaling 778,353,075 euros or 1,098,079 tons, up from 632,242,182 euros or 978,772 tons in 2019.
European Union member states were the main destination of Greek exports, up 24.6 pct from 2019, accounting for 81.7 pct of total exports of fruit and vegetables. In August exports were 10 pct up according to early estimates, while Incofruit-Hellas expects exports to reach new all-time recoreds this year.
Exports of vegetables were up 14.2 pct in the seven-month period, totaling 126,346,458 euros or 199,917 tons, while exports of fresh fruit were up 11.7 pct to 898,162 tons, worth 650 million euros (up 27.2 pct from last year).
Exports of tomatoes rose 10.4 pct, cucumbers were up 10.5 pct and potatoes rose 15.5 pct in the January-July period, while apples fell 26.1 pct, oranges, lemons, strawberries and kiwis grew 33.4 pct, 25.6 pct, 22.2 pct and 7.1 pct , respectively. During the same period, imports of fruit and vegetables were down 8.7 pct.