Spain Retail

Spain's fresh fruit and vegetable exports grew 4.85 per cent in value through the first nine months of the year, totaling €9.1bn, according to data from the General Directorate of Customs.

However, for the same period, volume actually declined by 3.06 per cent, falling to 8.9m tonnes.

Exports to the EU in the first nine months of the year climbed 4.7 per cent in value to €8.45bn and declined by 2.5 per cent in volume, totaling 8.4m tonnes, Fepex reported.

Despite this decline, the EU's export share increased slightly, accounting for 94 per cent of the total exports, showing, according to Fepex, the need to strengthen diversification and access to new products.

Spanish imports for the January to September period grew by 15.9 per cent in volume compared with the same period of 2015, coming to 2.1m tonnes, and 24.4 per cent in value.