European apricot volumes to return to normal after bumper 2024 crop

European apricot production is set to return to normal levels in 2025 after a bumper harvest in 2024.

Europêch’ announces the forecast at the Medfel trade show in Perpignan each year. This year, it has forecast total production of 508,291 tonnes across Italy, Spain, France and Greece – a 10 per cent reduction on the 563,167 tonnes harvested in 2024.

Nevertheless, the 2025 forecast is one per cent higher than the 2019-23 average of 504,205 tonnes.

This year, there is expected to be a production deficit in Italy and particularly Greece, stable production in Spain, and a return to normal volumes in France.

Greece, especially the region of Macedonia, has been hit by hail in 2025, with Turkey (the world’s largest apricot producer) also affected. To a far lesser extent, hail has also impacted producers in Italy and France’s Rhône valley.

Generally, however, it was an encouraging season for French producers, with total volume expected to return to normal after nearly a 40 per cent reduction in volume in 2024 (due to poor winter conditions and weak flowering).

Across all production regions, spring weather has been unpredictable with temperatures lower than in previous years and more frequent rainfall during flowering. This affected early ‘sterile’ varieties the most.

This weather volatility is expected to delay the start of the season by 10 to 15 days across each of Europe’s main production countries: Italy, Spain, France and Greece.

The European apricot market will also be affected by a major spring cold snap in Turkey, which produces more apricots than all of Europe combined. Production in Turkey is expected to fall by 70 per cent this year, especially in the region of Malatya.

Although the vast majority of Turkish apricots are dried, a proportion is exported fresh to Eastern Europe and Germany, but that will not be the case this year.

Here is the volume forecast in full: