France: the top melon purchaser

Intra-EU imports have been continuing their upward trend since 2011, with Spain still the official supplier in Europe for the EU-28. In 2013, these imports came to 592,288 tons, 0.5% more than in 2012 (588,758 t in total) and 24% more than in 2011 (536,928 t). Spain, accounting for over 60% of these, is still the leading European country exporting this fruit. In 2013, it exported 373,140 t of melons (worth nearly €283 million), ten thousand more than in 2012 (363,447 t) and nearly 40,000 tons more than in 2011 (335,439 t). 
France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Portugal are the main destinations dominating intra-EU melon imports. As one can see, 8 of the EU-28 countries monopolize nearly 85% of these imports, above all France in 2013 with 123,000 t, 5% up on 2012. For its part, Germany ranks as the second destination, growing less than France with 1% annual growth in 2013 compared to the previous year. In other locations, such as the Netherlands and Portugal, growth from 2012 to 2013 was around 4%. Overall, the 8 major intra-European destinations for European melons have seen growth every year since 2011. Only in Italy has it decreased, especially between 2012 and 2013, from 26,000 tons to 22,000 (14% less), most certainly because its domestic production grew. 
As for the source countries for the imports, Spain continues to lead the ranking, with 373,140 t in 2013; 10,000 more than in 2012 and 38,000 more than in 2011. The Netherlands is following the same upward trend. It is the second largest melon exporter within the EU-28 with 103,000 tons in 2013, similar to the 2012 figure. Third come Germany, France and Italy with very similar numbers. Germany exported just over 28,000 tons in 2013, France 29,000 t and Italy 26,000 t.