In the period from January to the end of September 2016, the United Kingdom imported 6.1 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables worth 7.17 billion Euro from other EU countries. The UK thus remains the EU's largest fruit and vegetable importer.
In the first three quarters of last year, the UK bought 3.3 million tonnes of fruit and 2.8 million tonnes of vegetables worth 3.85 billion Euro and 3.31 billion Euro, respectively. The country is the largest EU importer of tomatoes, with a total of more than 568 thousand tonnes, and the second largest importer of potatoes, with 447.2 thousand tonnes.
The UK also made significant purchases of sweet peppers (400 thousand tonnes) and cucumbers (345.2 thousand tonnes). It also imported more than 208 thousand tonnes of lettuce and a similar volume of onions, in addition to about 192.6 thousand tonnes of cabbage. As for fruit, the supply was dominated by citrus, with a total of almost 695 thousand tonnes, and bananas, with 537.3 thousand tonnes. The British also imported over 499 thousand tonnes of apples and pears in the first nine months of 2016.
In the same period, the British export of fruits and vegetables to the rest of the EU amounted to just over 277 thousand tonnes worth 204 million Euro. Of this amount, approximately 190.9 thousand tonnes corresponded to vegetables and the remaining 86.2 thousand tonnes to fruits.
The UK's largest fruit and vegetable supplier was Spain, with 1.1 million tonnes (the British market remains the third largest importer of Spanish fruit and vegetables).
The total volume of fruit and vegetables traded between European Union countries in the first nine months of 2016 amounted to 28.4 million tonnes worth over 26.0 billion Euro.
Source: ogrodinfo.pl
