The Catalan fruit and vegetable sector

Production

Fresh fruit constitutes one of the main agricultural productions of Catalonia due to its economic weight, cultivated area, relative importance in production both in Europe and in Spain, and its export orientation.

Catalonia is the most important sweet fruit production area in Spain which, at the same time, is the ninth largest producer worldwide of peaches and nectarines, the eighteenth producer of pears, and the thirty-seventh of apples.

In the more than 108 thousand hectares dedicated to fruit trees and citrus, around one million tonnes (984,382 tn) of mainly apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, oranges, mandarins, and lemons are produced annually.

Thanks to a territory rich in diversity and a temperate Mediterranean climate, Catalonia offers a good variety of fruit which, in addition, has a unique value: cultivation is carried out mostly according to the integrated production system.

As for vegetables, Catalonia has nearly 20,000 hectares (19,863 ha) dedicated to vegetable crops, generating 278,301 tonnes of more than 20 different varieties, prominently including onions, tomatoes, zucchinis and pumpkins, lettuces, cabbages, and cucumbers.

Exports

Catalonia exports 65% of its sweet fruit and citrus (609,268 tonnes), relative to its global production, to foreign markets and is present in the most demanding European and international chains in terms of quality, traceability, and food safety. Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands are among the main destination countries.