The latest figures from Fruit Imprese show that Italian fresh produce exports increased by 20.9 per cent to around 300,000 tonnes during the first seven months of 2010, with the value of fruit and vegetables traded outside the country also increasing by 21.9 per cent to €2.1bn.
Fresh produce imports, meanwhile, were down 6.6 per cent during January-July 2010 compared with the year-earlier period, which contributed to an overall 324.9 per cent year-on-year increase in the balance of trade within the fruit and vegetable sector to €533m.
Volume increases were noted for all categories, according to Fruit Imprese. Most notable was a 117.1 per cent upturn in the volume of Italian citrus exported; elsewhere, increases were seen in the amount of vegetables (+22.3 per cent), dried fruit (+21.4 per cent) and fresh fruit (+13.9 per cent).
In economic terms, Italy's fresh produce export trade also enjoyed strong results for the seven-month period, the one exception being tropical fruits, which saw a 13.4 per cent fall in the volume sold.
Overall, imports were down both in terms of volume (-6.6 per cent) and value (-8.5 per cent).
Italy imported more vegetables (+3.2 per cent) and dried fruit (+43.1 per cent), but less citrus (-49.8 per cent), fresh fruit (-13 per cent) and tropical fruit (-1 per cent).
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