According to preliminary data of the NSI, in the period between January and May 2016 Bulgaria imported 128.1 thousand tonnes of fresh vegetables and 104.6 thousand tonnes of fresh fruit, which is a 9.4% and 10% increase, respectively, compared to the same period of 2015.
The products contributing the most to the growth in the import of fresh vegetables have been onions, carrots, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes, with between 15.5% and 32.1% growth and the most significant one being recorded by tomatoes. Meanwhile, however, the import of potatoes recorded a 25.8% drop.
Traditionally, the most imported fresh fruits are species that are not produced in the country, such as citrus fruits and bananas. A significant share corresponds also to apples, whose import volume recorded a 3.7% increase compared to the first five months of 2015. Growth was also observed in the imports of strawberries, melons, watermelons, peaches and apricots, up by 10 to 38.8%. On the other side of the scale, imports of nuts, cherries and raspberries recorded drops of between 17.6% and 84.7%.
In the period January-May 2016, exports of fresh vegetables increased by 43.3% compared to the same period of 2015, reaching 12.5 thousand tonnes, while those of fresh fruit grew by 25.2% to 14.9 thousand tonnes.
Among the major vegetables for export, the most significant growth was observed with pumpkins, up by more than three times, followed by cabbage, peppers, cucumbers and onions, up by between 27.2% and 57%. A significant reduction was recorded in the export of potatoes (by 91.6%), while tomatoes recorded a more moderate decline of just 4.8%.
Source: fermer.bg