Two-thirds of the EU’s fruit production in Spain, Italy and Poland

The EU’s fruit production area measured almost 1.3 million hectares in 2017, according to Eurostat data. The largest area was in Spain (422,800ha, 33%), followed by Italy (279,300ha, 22%) and Poland (167,300ha, 13%). Apples accounted for just over one third of the area (473,500ha, 37%), followed by oranges (255,500ha, 20%). Next came peaches (190,500ha, 15%), clementines and satsumas (139,600ha, 11%), pears (100,400ha, 8%), apricots (75,700ha, 6%) and lemons (60,100ha, 5%).

The EU’s fruit production area rose by 0.4% between 2012 and 2017. The largest expansion in this period took place in Poland (+11%), Greece (+6%), Romania (+6%) and Portugal (+7%). The most significant declines were in Czechia (-29%) and Croatia (-24%), while Spain (-2%) and Italy (-2%) also saw shrinkage. Poland has the largest apple production area, while Italy leads the way in pears and Spain in oranges, small citrus, peaches, apricots and lemons.