Europe consumes more peaches

Slight decrease in intra-EU stone fruit imports between 2012 and 2013. Nectarines, peaches, plums, apricots and cherries, in that order, added up to a million and a half tons in 2013, in import flows among EU-28 countries. In total, imports for 2013 were 0.2 % lower than last year, but represented a turnover of 1,871,365,564 euros, almost 150 million more than in 2012.
By varieties, peach saw a notable increase, with EU-28 imports in 2013 approaching 4% more, reaching almost 447,000 tons, 17 thousand more than 2012. In turn, nectarine volumes fell by 1,7%, reaching 625 thousand t in 2013, 9 thousand less than in 2012. But if we are talking about negative figures, plum imports were outstanding: 10% fewer intra-EU imports of this fruit in 2013, in other words, 21,500 t less than in 2012. Similarly, apricots underwent a 4% decline in imports among EU countries. Cherries were the exception, as numbers rose by almost 5.5 % in 2013 over the previous year. 
By destinations, a large part of these imports went to Germany, with 444 thousand t in 2013, illustrating an upward trend for 2011-2013, the majority from Spain, with 174,000 t in 2013, as well as 150,000 t from Italy the same year. Among destinations, Portugal and Italy took in 27% more imports in 2013 compared to 2012, which had seen a considerable drop, especially in Italy, and to a lesser extent in Portugal.