Citrus, particularly oranges and mandarins, drove the decrease, while persimmon exports showed strong growth
Spanish exports of fresh fruit and vegetables registered an 8.5 per cent decrease in volume in January, reaching 1.14mn tonnes, down from the 1.25mn tonnes exported in January 2025.
However, export value remained stable, with a slight increase of 0.6 per cent, reaching €1.95bn.
Volumes exported by the country decreased for both fruit (down 9 per cent) and vegetables (down 8 per cent), according to data from the Department of Customs and Special Taxes, published by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business and processed by Fepex.
Vegetable exports fell by to 616,329 tonnes, but value increased by 4.5 per cent to more than €1.16bn.
Peppers dropped 15 per cent drop to 92,886 tonnes, and cucumber volumes fell 18 per cent to 89,429 tonnes.
Lettuce also experienced a volume decrease, down 2.5 per cent to 95,501 tonnes, while tomato exports remained virtually stable at 82,195 tonnes compared to 82,474 tonnes in the corresponding month last year.
Fruit exports fell to 523,463 tonnes, with value falling 5 per cent to €788.5mn year on year.
Citrus accounted for a significant portion of the decline. Oranges, for example, saw their export volume decrease by 10 per cent, totalling 179,449 tonnes, with value also falling by 5 per cent to €170mn.
Mandarin volumes also decreased, by 13 per cent to 170,145 tonnes, with value down 3 per cent to €256mn.
Conversely, although from a much lower base, persimmon exports improved by 42 per cent to 23,431 tonnes, while value grew 27 per cent to €34.1mn.
”For Fepex, the data reflects a start to the year marked by a contraction in exported quantities, affecting both fruits and vegetables, in line with what already occurred in 2025, while the value of exports managed to hold steady,” the industry body noted.
