Spain also accounts for approximately half of the EU's total acreage devoted to the production of this fruit, which amounts to about 280,000 hectares.
The Spanish production was much greater than that recorded by the second largest exporter of oranges in the EU, which was Greece with 462,000 tonnes (17% of the EU total).
The 2.7 million oranges exported by the EU, which were worth 1,800 million Euro, were mostly (90%) shipped to other European countries.
Three Member States alone accounted for half of the EU's orange imports: the Netherlands, which bought 548,000 tonnes of this fruit in 2016; France, with 506,000 tonnes; and Germany, with 490,000 tonnes.
The oranges that arrived in European countries in 2016 from outside the EU came mainly from South Africa (404,000 tonnes, 43% of exports from outside the EU) and Egypt (266,000 tonnes, 28%).
Source: EFE
