Spanish fresh fruit and vegetable exports enjoyed growth to all key segments in the opening quarter of the year, inside and outside of Europe.
According to figures processed by Fepex, exports totalled €4.095bn through the first three months of 2017, with EU shipments coming in at €3.85bn - an increase of 11 per cent on the same period last year.
The EU accounted for 94 per cent of all Spanish exports, with growth in key markets such as Germany (+13 per cent to €1.09bn), France (+4 per cent to €641.6m) and the UK (+3 per cent to €572m).
Non-EU European nations took on €114.6m-worth of Spanish fresh produce, growth of 5 per cent year-on-year and representing 2.8 per cent of all of Spain's fruit and vegetable exports and mainly down to growth in the Swiss market of 13 per cent to €76.5m.
Outside of Europe, Spain's exports came to €133m, up 14 per cent, with growth in the US (+60 per cent to €14.5m), China (+104 per cent to €14m) and Saudi Arabia (+44 per cent to €10.5m).
'For Fepex, the positive evolution of exports to third countries is remarkable, although the consolidation of new markets is a long and expensive process without significant volumes and values having been reached,' Fepex noted.
