According to the latest EU statistics, imports of fruit and vegetables by the block from third countries increased by three per cent during the first half of 2018. 

During the period €7,745 million of fruit and €1,576 million of vegetables were imported, with fruit showing a 6.5 per cent rise, while vegetables actually fell 9 per cent compared to the same period the previous year. The largest sources of fruit were South Africa (920,464 tonnes), Costa Rica (816,291 tonnes), Chile (738,648 tonnes) and Morocco (618,753 tonnes), and the main products bananas, pineapples and grapes.

The most imported vegetable crops were tomatoes, and ‘pod vegetables’ such as green beans, with the largest source by a significant margin being Morocco, followed by Turkey and Egypt.1