Spain joined the European Union (then EEC) exactly 40 years ago. Since then, its fruit and vegetable exports have grown considerably. In this period, the country's fruit and vegetable imports have skyrocketed, going from 546,920 tons in 1986 to 5.4 million tons in 2024.
In the first year of accession, 1986, Spain imported 463,000 tons of vegetables and 83,000 tons of fruit. After that, imports increased steadily. In 1990, the country imported 1.9 million tons (1.6 million tons of vegetables and 300,856 tons of fruits). Ten years later, in 2000, imports totaled 3.8 million tons (3 million tons of vegetables and 800,000 tons of fruits).
In the first years of the 21st century, imports continued to grow, peaking at 4.2 and 4.1 million tons in 2004 and 2005. After that, imports decreased, but volumes surpassed 4 million as of 2018.
Vegetable imports have always surpassed fruit imports. However, in the 2000s, fruit imports started to increase considerably. In the past decade, fruit and vegetable volume imports have been neck and neck. In 2013, the country imported 3.3 million tons of vegetables (1.8 million tons of vegetables and 1.5 million tons of fruits). In 2014, the country imported 1.6 million tons of vegetables and the same volume of fruits. Since then, both subgroups have maintained very similar volumes.
According to data from the Spanish Customs processed by Fepex, in 2024, Spain imported 5.4 million tons of fruits and vegetables (2.9 million tons of vegetables and 2.5 million tons of fruit).
For more information: fepex.es