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Markets and Trade

Tropical Fruits

Value and growth of tropical fruits

Global production of tropical fruits has grown steadily over the past decade, predominantly in response to increasing demand in major producer areas. While tropical fruits play a small role in global agricultural trade in overall quantities, accounting for a mere 3 percent of world agricultural food products exports, their high average export unit value is well above USD 1 000 per tonne and places them as the third most valuable fruit group globally, behind bananas and apples. Trade in tropical fruits generates a substantial income for smallholder producers, as well as significant export earnings for many of the producing countries, thereby contributing to their food security.

Current releases
Journal; magazine; bulletin
Minor Tropical Fruits Global Trade Overview 2024
07/11/2024

This report provides a concise evaluation of the latest trends and developments in the global trade of minor tropical fruits as recorded under HS code...

Journal; magazine; bulletin
Major Tropical Fruits Market Review 2023
09/09/2024

The Major Tropical Fruits Market Review is issued on an annual basis to Members and Observers of the Sub-Group on Tropical Fruits of the Intergovernmental...

Publications
Measuring carbon and water footprints in pineapple value chains - A training guide
14/11/2024

This training guide is part of a set of learning materials on measuring carbon and water footprints that was developed to help stakeholders in the pineapple value chain make their operations more resilient and sustainable. Based on the technical guide “Measuring Carbon and Water Footprints in Pineapple Value Chains”, these materials make this information accessible to producers, associations working with small growers, and other businesses.

Minor Tropical Fruits Global Trade Overview 2024
07/11/2024

This report provides a concise evaluation of the latest trends and developments in the global trade of minor tropical fruits as recorded under HS code 0810.90, a group of tropical fruits that has been gaining popularity. The report offers insights into the current state of the market, including factors influencing supply and demand, trade patterns, and potential opportunities and challenges.

Commodity in focus

Global trade in tropical fruits has expanded to unprecedented heights in recent years, reaching an estimated aggregate export volume of close to 11 million tonnes in 2023. Strong demand growth in key importing countries has led to ample investments in improving productivity and expanding production areas in supplying countries, notably for avocados.

 

 With around 2 700 species, tropical fruits are not only a source of nutrition, but also of income generation for farmers who produce them for export.
 In global commodity trade, tropical fruits constitute a comparatively new group and since 1970, they have emerged as significant in the international marketplace.
 Export volumes of fresh tropical fruits display the fastest average annual growth rates among internationally traded food commodities.
 Advances in transportation, trade agreements and shifting consumer preferences in favour of these fruits led to trade growth.
 Tropical fruits are highly perishable during production and distribution, and so environmental challenges are among the key obstacles to sustaining production and ensuring that international markets are supplied.
 Increasingly, erratic weather events are a particularly acute challenge to growing tropical fruits because the vast majority are produced on smallholder farms of less than 5 ha where cultivation is highly dependent on rainfall.

 

 

An estimated 99 percent of tropical fruit production originates in developing countries, predominantly in Asia and Latin America and a smaller share in Africa.

 

In most producing zones, tropical fruits continue to be cultivated at the subsistence rather than the commercial level.

 

The combined exports of the four major tropical fruits represent only 5 percent of total production volume, and the remainder is consumed or otherwise utilized domestically.