The Statistical Office of the German Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, using the preliminary results of foreign trade statistics, announces that around 89,500 tonnes of watermelon worth €51.5 million will be imported into Baden-Württemberg in 2020. This corresponds to an increase in the import volume of the low-calorie fruit of 46% compared to the previous year. This means that 159% more watermelons will be imported in 2020 than a decade ago.** Measured by the population of Baden-Württemberg, the imported quantity of watermelons in 2020 corresponds to a quantity of 8.1 kg per capita.
Watermelons are imported in particularly high quantities during summer and when temperatures rise. Over the past ten years, more than three quarters of all watermelons imported in that year were imported during the months of May to August. In 2020, 68,800 tonnes of the total 89,500 tonnes of watermelons were imported during this period.
With 52,700 tonnes worth €28.6 million, Spain supplied the lion's share of watermelons in the south-west in 2020, accounting for a 59% share of total watermelon imports. The second most important supplier in 2020 was Italy with a share of almost 20% or 17,700 tonnes of watermelons. That was almost three times as much as a year earlier. The United States, Greece and Brazil each contributed around 5% of total imports in 2020.
** 2011: 34,600 tonnes; 2019: 61,100 tonnes.