Market Trends of Egypt Fruits And Vegetables Industry
Rising Vegetable Production in the Country
Egypt is witnessing a shift in consumer preferences toward healthier diets, with increased awareness about the benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables. Several factors, including rising urbanization, higher disposable incomes, and the growing popularity of veganism, are driving this shift. Due to the various climatic advantages, natural vegetation, soil type, and favorable farming practices, growers can increase production. Tomatoes, onions & shallots, and eggplants dominate the Egyptian vegetable market with a huge production. According to a database published by UN Comtrade, the highest exports were of potatoes, with 472,451 metric tons exported in 2021. Onions, shallots, garlic, leeks, and other alliaceous vegetables ranked second with a total of 275,175 metric tons, and tomatoes came in ninth place with a total of 13,589 metric tons exported in 2021.
Egypt's total agricultural crop production increased by more than 20% in the past decade. During the same period, the population growth rate increased slightly more than the crop production. Vegetables play a very important and major role in Egypt's agriculture. This is demonstrated by the increase in the area planted for these crops from 636,169 hectares in 2019 to 639,118 hectares in 2021. According to FAO, in 2020, the total production of vegetables in Egypt was 15.66 million metric tons, which increased to 15.82 million metric tons in 2022. This substantial increase in the area harvested, and production of these crops is due to the preference given to them because of their high returns compared with other field crops. Also, the huge support from the government in association with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) enables farmers to achieve high production volume. The growing consumption of vegetables in the country has been enhancing production for the last few years.
Increasing Exports Contribute to Market Growth
The export of fruits and vegetables is increasing from Egypt. According to ITC Trademap, the export of citrus fruits was valued at USD 854,966 thousand in 2021, an increase of approximately 6.55% from the previous year. Most fruits and vegetables were exported to the European Union by international quality standards, affirming that fruit and vegetable exports should be hassle-free without any hindrance.
Egypt is one of the biggest exporters of oranges in the world. Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, India, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, China, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Oman, and Ukraine were Egypt's prominent export destinations for fresh oranges in 2021.
Russia Federation is Egypt's leading orange export destination. Its supply to the country accounted for about 11.9% of the overall orange export, followed by Saudi Arabia with 11.4%, Bangladesh with 6%, India with 7.4%, Netherlands with 7%, and the United Arab Emirates with 4% of the country in 2021. Furthermore, increasing demand for healthy diets among the consumer base and the increasing use of fresh oranges in the food industry, such as desserts, juice, jam, bakery products, confectioneries, and cereals, are expected to boost the export of oranges from Egypt.
Egypt has succeeded in opening new vegetable and fruit markets, especially in China, the European Union, and East Asian countries. Additionally, Egypt has successfully lifted the ban on Egyptian agricultural exports in some countries, which confirms the safety of Egyptian procedures, boosting the Egyptian fruits and vegetables market. Higher sales of citrus fruits, beets, and potatoes were the prominent crops that aided the record year for Egyptian agricultural exports in 2021, exceeding 5.6 million metric tons.
