Last July, the EU Commission published its annual report on imports data, titled ‘EU imports of organic agri-food products – key developments 2022’.
Among the data to be highlighted, the first one that catches our attention is the total figure of imports, which has decreased compared to the figures of 2021, from 2.87 million tonnes in 2021 to 2.73 million tonnes in 2022. Supposedly, this is due to the decrease in demand due to the increase in food prices in the EU during the last year.
Some of the most traditional organic commodities imported into the EU such as sugar, fruit and vegetables, and some oils reduced their numbers in 2022. On the other hand, soybeans have increased their import numbers by 51%, with Togo being the main exporter, and ethanol increased its imports by a massive 210%, coming mostly from Colombia. Regarding exporting countries, it is notable that the third position as organic exporters in 2022 is held by Ukraine, due to its cereals, oilseeds, oilcakes and soyabeans exports. The two top positions are held by Ecuador and Dominican Republic, mainly due to the large volumes of organic bananas exported from these two countries.
The main EU importers are the Netherlands and Germany, with 53% of the total EU volume between the two of them. The Netherlands increased the volume of its organic imports by 4.6%; however, Germany decreased by 13.1%.
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