According to EastFruit analysts, the volume of apple imports to China in 2022 jumped by 40% and became the largest in the last three seasons and one of the largest ever. In total, 95 500 tonnes of fresh apples were imported, 27 000 tonnes more than in 2021.
“China, being the world’s largest fresh apple exporter, is also a major importer. The main reason is that there are quite a lot of rich people in China who prefer imported goods. Therefore, China traditionally imports premium-quality apples for the high-price segment,” explains Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Center of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
New Zealand remained the leading supplier of apples to China in 2022, accounting for about 58% of supplies or 55 600 tonnes. Exports from New Zealand to China in 2022 increased by 43% or 17 000 tonnes.
The second is South Africa, which took over this position from apple exporters from Chile in 2021. South Africa exported 17 200 tonnes of fresh apples to China in 2022, which is 40% more than a year earlier. The Chileans increased the supply of fresh apples to China by 1.5 times in a year to 11 500 tonnes.
Since access to the Chinese market is extremely complicated, there were only seven countries supplying apples there in 2022, and only five of them exported large volumes. In addition to those mentioned, the United States and France exported large volumes of apples to China. Small batches were also supplied from Australia and Poland.
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