Japan’s fruit imports sink to lowest in 5 years

Recent data from the Japanese Ministry of Finance shows that Japan’s fruit imports dropped by over 8% Y-o-Y in 2022 to 1.63 million tons, which is even lower than the 1.66 million tons imported in 2018.

The average price of imported fruit per kilogram rose 12% to ¥172 in 2022 from ¥154 in 2021, the highest recorded price in over a decade.

Bananas and pineapples are still the main fruit imports, with 1.05 million tons and 176,435 tons imported respectively. The Philippines has recaptured some of its share of banana exports to Japan, accounting for 78.2% of the total. Between 2018 and 2020, the Philippines’ share of Japan’s banana imports dropped from 83% to 75%.

However, some fruits have seen a rise in imports in the past five years, such as kiwifruit and avocado.