Morocco has made history by displacing Spain in the European Union (EU) tomato market for the first time in 2022. The report prepared by Hortoinfo based on data from the statistical service Euroestacom (Icex-Eurostat) indicates that Morocco surpassed Spain by the volume of kilos sold in the community market. In the last decade, the Netherlands has dominated tomato sales in EU Member States markets followed by Spain.
In 2013, the two countries sold six out of every ten tomatoes bought in the community markets. However, Morocco has been reducing the difference each year until it has ousted Spain from second place and approaching the figures of the Netherlands.
Although tomato purchases by the Member States in 2022 have been similar to those of 2013, there has been a slight reduction of 0.4 percent, from the 2,660.07 million kilos purchased in 2013 to 2,649.53 million in 2022. However, the value has increased considerably thanks to the price increase. In 2013, community purchases of tomatoes represented an investment of 2,927.02 million euros; in 2022, the figure has risen to 4,525.1 million euros, 54.6 percent more.
The Netherlands continues to be the country that supplies the most tomatoes to the Member States, followed by Morocco and Spain, which has gone from the second place it had been occupying to third, with a volume of 513.84 million kilos sold in the EU in 2022, 204.02 million kilos less than in 2013. Despite this reduction in terms of tomato volume, its value has increased by 126.31 million euros compared to 2013, going from 811.36 million euros in 2013 to 937.67 million in 2022. France and Turkey complete the quintet of countries that sell the most tomatoes in the EU, with volumes supplied of 212.59 million kilos and 187.12 million kilos, respectively.
The EU Member States have been witnessing a shift in tomato sales, with Morocco rising to prominence and Spain losing its position. It remains to be seen how this trend will evolve in the coming years, with the tomato market remaining an essential part of the EU’s agricultural industry.
Source: hortoinfo.es, Feature picture https://tinyurl.com/2f8vvem4.
10 April 2023
