Spain's fresh fruit and vegetable exports enjoyed a strong start to the year, growing 6 per cent in value through January up to €1.36bn.

That is according to the latest data from the General Directorate of Customs, processed by Fepex.

Vegetable exports jumped 13 per cent in value on a year-on-year basis, climbing to €781.4m, while volumes rose 7 per cent to 701,976 tonnes.

For fresh fruit, exports grew 12.3 per cent in volume compared with January 2018, standing at 663,738 tonnes, although value actually dropped off 2.5 per cent to €580.2m.