Spain counts costs of weather-ravaged citrus season 

Estimates indicate a 10% drop in Spain’s citrus exports in the 2022-23 campaign, according to EUROSTAT data. The slump is mainly due to the adverse weather conditions experienced in the main production areas, with excessive rainfall early on and very high temperatures subsequently during the fruit’s growth stage. Total output is expected to reach 5.79 million tons, the lowest since the 2012/13 season, with orange and lemon the most hit.

In Andalusia, orange production is down by 32% (-608,000 tons) compared to the 2021/22 season and by 24% (-409,000 tons) compared to the average. In the regions of Valencia and Murcia, crops were 15% and 18% below the average volume, respectively.

In the 2022/23 campaign (between September 2022 and January 2023) Spanish exports amounted to 1.7 million tons, which amounts to 10.2% less than last season and 15.6% below the five-year average. In terms of value, they reached €1.88 billion, which is 4.3% more than in the 2021/22 season and 6.2% above the average.