In 2021, EU Member States purchased 1,344.95 million kilos of peppers, i.e., 5.94% less volume than in the previous year. However, the decline in purchases hasn't affected in the same way all the pepper-producing countries that export their vegetables to the European market.
In fact, according to data prepared by Hortoinfo, Spanish and Dutch pepper sales to the European Union in 2021 decreased over the previous year, while Turkish and Moroccan sales increased.
Last year, Spain sold 82.74 million kilos fewer peppers to the EU, i.e., 12.76% less than in the previous year. Part of this decline has been offset by a 14.75% increase in pepper exports to the United Kingdom, with a volume of 122.09 million kilos.
Despite the reduction in volume, Spain continues to be the country that sells the most pepper to its Community partners. In 2021, Spain sold 565.8 million kilos of peppers in the EU, accounting for 42.07% of all peppers purchased by the EU.
Spanish pepper sales to the EU in 2021 amounted to 974.23 million euros, i.e., 7.55% less than in 2020, at an average price of 1.72€/kg, which is 6.17% higher than in 2020.
Dutch pepper sales in the EU decreased by 2.3% to 6.63 million kilos. In total, in 2021, the Netherlands supplied the Member States with 281.57 million kilos of peppers worth 582.05 million euros, at an average price of 2.07€/kg, i.e., 20.34% more expensive than the Spanish peppers.
Moroccan pepper sales increased by 12.45%, totaling 135.5 million kilos, i.e., 15.01 million kilos more than in the previous year. Moroccan pepper exports to the EU amounted to 123.01 million euros, and their average price stood at 0.91 €/kg.
Türkiye was the EU's fourth-biggest pepper supplier with 106.87 million kilos (18.11% more than in the previous year), 124.61 million euros, and an average price of 1.17€/kg.
Source: hortoinfo.es