Improvement driven by higher demand from key European markets and Russia
After several months of slowdown, Ecuadorean banana exports recorded a slight improvement in October 2025, reaching a cumulative growth of 3.4 per cent compared to the same period last year, equivalent to 315.26mn boxes shipped.
Banana association Aebe said the recovery was mainly driven by increased demand from the European Union and Russia and the stabilisation of productivity in Ecuador’s main banana-growing regions.
In the case of Russia, the annual growth rate increased from 14.9 per cent in September to 16.9 per cent in October, while the EU saw growth from 6.61 per cent to 6.97 per cent during the same period.
“This change in trend reflects greater dynamism in purchases, which translated into a real increase in the volumes absorbed by these markets during October,” Aebe noted. “These results were complemented by the performance of the Middle East (+12.7 per cent) and the US (+7.3 per cent), which continued to contribute to growth, albeit at a more moderate pace.
“In contrast, regions such as Africa, Central Asia, the UK and Oceania maintained negative growth rates, demonstrating that the improvement is not yet widespread and remains concentrated in specific markets.”
From a production standpoint, improved weather conditions in the country’s banana-growing regions allowed for a recovery in productivity levels, facilitating better synchronisation between harvesting, ripening, and shipping.
