Italy leads Europe in grapes and pear production

Italy leads the way in the continent for its production of table grapes and pears, according to data emerging from the latest Eurostat survey on agricultural area. In 2017, fruit planted area covered ​​1.295 million hectares, slightly higher than in 2012. Around two-thirds of this area is concentrated in Spain, Italy and Poland.

Apples represent 36.6% of the crops, followed by oranges (19.7%) and peaches and nectarines (14.7%). Spain owns about a third of Europe’s total plantations (32.6%), with Italy in second place (21.6%), followed by Poland (12.9%). Spain is well ahead of Italy in terms of citrus.  For table grapes, Italy is the clear leader, with a cultivated area more than three times that of Spain, 39,700 hectares against 12,500.