EU countries imported 4.185 million tonnes of bananas from the Caribbean and other countries in 2006, a 12.3 per cent increase on 2005.
European Commission data released this week revealed that the largest year-on-year rise in imports, at 18.6 per cent, came from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations, especially Jamaica and Ghana, where exports rose by 173 and 478 per cent respectively.
Cameroon and Ivory Coast retained their position as the EU’s main ACP-banana suppliers, to where they send almost all of their fruit, accounting for around 53 per cent of the group’s combined exports to the bloc last year.
Latin America saw European exports rise by 10.7 per cent last year, maintaining its position as main supplier to the EU. Ecuador remained the single-largest supplier of the fruit, shipping 1.024m tonnes to the EU last year, 3.6 per cent down from 2005
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