Production 11 per cent down on last season and 14 per cent lower than the five-year average
Spain’s 2025/26 citrus harvest is expected to weigh in at 5.44mn tonnes, according to preliminary estimates from Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food. This is 10.7 per cent lower than last season and 14.2 per cent down on the average for the last five seasons, making it the lowest harvest in the last 16 years.The decline is mainly due to excessive rainfall in spring, high temperatures during critical periods of fruit development, and hailstorms in various growing areas, the ministry said.
There will be significant declines in oranges, mandarins, and lemons. However, grapefruit production will reach a new record.
Oranges, which make up around half of the total citrus crop, are expected to reach 2.72mn tonnes, 11.6 per cent or 356,300 tonnes less than in 2024/25. Within this category, 71 per cent are Navel varieties.
Soft citrus production will reach 1.73mn tonnes, 8.2 per cent of 154,100 tonnes less than last season and 14.1 per cent down on the five-year average. Soft citrus accounts for 31.9 per cent of Spain’s citrus output, with satsumas representing 5.4 per cent, clementines 52.2 per cent, and the rest made up of mandarins and hybrids.
Lemon production is expected to fall to 866,654 tonnes, 14.7 per cent or 149,400 tonnes lower than last season and 17.3 per cent less than the five-year average. Within this category, Fino accounts for 77.3 per cent of production and Verna for 22.1 per cent.
Grapefruit is the only category that bucks the downward trends, with production forecast to grow 8 per cent to 107,902 tonnes. This is 26.4 per cent above the five-year average and makes it record campaign for the third consecutive year.
During a meeting to present the forecast and discuss the outlook for the 2025/26 campaign, the ministry noted that Spain continues to be the leading citrus producer in the European Union and the sixth biggest in the world. Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, it exported an average of 3.5mn tonnes of citrus per season, with an average annual value of almost €3.6bn.
The country also leads the world in fresh citrus marketing, accounting for nearly 25 per cent of global exports. More than half of national production (55 per cent) is destined for foreign markets, a proportion that exceeds 60 per cent for soft citrus and lemons, and is almost 85 per cent for grapefruit.
One of the issues of greatest concern to the sector highlighted at the meeting is the introduction of foreign pests and pathogens into European citrus cultivation, which is constantly increasing due to trade globalisation, the full opening of markets, and the growing impact of climate change on plant health.
