WCO publishes citrus statistics manual

The World Citrus Organisation (WCO) has published its Citrus World Statistics for WCO members as part of its strategy to boost citrus sector information exchange.

The 52-page publication, compiled by Cirad, outlines statistical data for the summer 2021 and winter 2021-22 citrus seasons on production, exports, seasons, imports, and consumption for all citrus as well as oranges, easy peelers, lemons, grapefruit and limes. It provides detailed market insights on citrus sector developments, crucial for business decisions along the supply chain.

WCO Northern Hemisphere co-chair José Antonio Garcia of Ailimpo commented: “This report is a tool that the WCO offers to the citrus community around the world and is the result of our commitment to transparency and information provision.

“I am convinced that citrus growers, traders and processors will find in this fantastic report produced by our Cirad partners, a key element to improve their decision making, generating added value to the supply chain”.

WCO Southern Hemisphere co-chair Justin Chadwick of South Africa’s Citrus Growers’ Association added: “The WCO aims to benefit members through provision of important citrus sector statistics and information.

“Apart from highlighting the nutritional and health aspects of citrus and looking at ways of promoting citrus consumption around the world, the WCO decided to make the Citrus World Statistics publication for citrus stakeholders.

“We urge country citrus representative organisations and stakeholder companies to join the WCO to enable the Secretariat to continue to provide these benefits to the global citrus community”.

The publication reveals that citrus world production stands at 158.5m tonnes, headed by China, Brazil, India and Mexico as the top producing countries in 2021. However, while 51 per cent of citrus is produced in Asia, 52 per cent of citrus exports (7.2m tonnes) originate from the Mediterranean region with the lion’s share dominated by Spain, South Africa, Turkey and Egypt.

Imports are relatively stable, with the main importer markets still being dominated by Europe, the UK, Norway and Switzerland (42 per cent). This trend is reflected in citrus consumption with Scandinavia (14.5kg), followed by France (13.5kg) and Germany (12.8kg) showing the highest citrus consumption per capita in 2021.

This new publication builds on the WCO’s existing citrus forecasting activities. On a biannual basis ahead of the Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere seasons, the WCO undertakes citrus forecasting to facilitate WCO members’ understanding of current global citrus market developments to better position the citrus category on domestic markets and further afield.

The latest WCO Northern Hemisphere forecast will be presented at the Global Citrus Congress taking place virtually on 30 November 2022, which is an open event free of charge. Market analysis of the forecast will be presented by Cirad.