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Tropical fruits

Commodity in focus

Global production of tropical fruits has grown steadily over the past decade, predominantly in response to increasing demand in major producer areas. While tropical fruits play a small role in global agricultural trade in overall quantities, accounting for a mere 3 percent of world agricultural food products exports, their high average export unit value is well above USD 1 000 per tonne and places them as the third most valuable fruit group globally, behind bananas and apples. Trade in tropical fruits generates a substantial income for smallholder producers, as well as significant export earnings for many of the producing countries, thereby contributing to their food security.

Global trade in tropical fruits has expanded to unprecedented heights in recent years, reaching an estimated aggregate export volume of close to 11 million tonnes in 2023. Strong demand growth in key importing countries has led to ample investments in improving productivity and expanding production areas in supplying countries, notably for avocados.

Current releases
Major Tropical Fruits Market Review. Preliminary results 2024
24/12/2024

The Tropical Fruits Market Review Preliminary Results is issued on an annual basis to Members and Observers of the Sub-Group on Tropical Fruits of the...

Minor Tropical Fruits Global Trade Overview 2024
07/11/2024

This report provides a concise evaluation of the latest trends and developments in the global trade of minor tropical fruits as recorded under HS code...

More Publications
Food Outlook - September 2000
04/09/2000

Latest indications continue to point to increased cereal output in 2000, although the growth will be lower than expected earlier. This reaffirms earlier forecasts that total cereal production will not be sufficient to meet expected utilization requirements in 2000/01, causing global cereal reserves to be drawn down. FAO’s latest forecast for cereal production in 2000 is 1 881 million tonnes, up 0.3 percent on last year. Output of wheat is forecast at 587 million tonnes, down by 0.4 percent from the previous year, while that of coarse grains is seen to rise by 1.6 percent to 896 million tonnes. The forecast for the global rice crop in 2000 remains unchanged, at 398 million tonnes (milled basis), 1.3 percent less than the record crop last year. Food supply difficulties persist in many developing countries. As of end-August, the number of developing countries facing serious food difficulties worldwide stands at 36, unchanged from June. Additionally, however, there are several other countries affected by serious but localized disasters, mainly floods and droughts. World trade in cereals is expected to expand further in 2000/01, to 232 million tonnes, 2 million tonnes above the estimated volume in 1999/2000. Global trade in coarse grains is forecast to increase while trade in wheat may decline marginally. Cereal export prices remained weak during most of the past three months. However, wheat and coarse grain prices began to recover in late August mostly in response to less favourable crop prospects in some countries and strong import demand. A gradual tightening of world meat supplies is pushing up prices in 2000. Limited use of export programmes will likely constrain trade growth to only 1 percent with developing countries set to capture all of the growth in meat exports. During 1999/2000, prices for oils and fats declined further due to record global supplies, while oilmeal prices started to strengthen again due to a tightening supply/demand situation. The 2000/01 season is likely to be characterized by expanding meal production and contracting oils and fats output.

Food Outlook - June 2000
05/06/2000

Latest indications continue to point to a larger cereal output in 2000. However, based on the current forecasts, total cereal production would not be sufficient to meet expected utilization requirements in 2000/01 and global cereal reserves would be drawn down again next season. FAO’s latest forecast puts global cereal output in 2000 at 1 896 million tonnes, up more than 1 percent from 1999. Output of wheat is forecast at 590 million tonnes, up slightly from the previous year, while that of coarse grains is seen to rise by over 3 percent to 908 million tonnes. The global rice crop is tentatively forecast at 398 million tonnes (milled basis) in 2000, 1 percent less than the record crop last year. The number of countries facing food emergencies has increased since April. As of end-May 2000, 36 developing countries face serious food shortages, primarily due to drought, but also due to civil strife and floods, particularly in Africa. FAO’s first forecast of world cereal trade in 2000/01 is 221 million tonnes, about 4 million tonnes below the estimated import volume in 1999/2000. Global imports of wheat and coarse grains are forecast to be smaller while rice trade in 2001 is tentatively expected to remain unchanged from this year. International prices for most cereals remain under pressure. For rice, a declining trend in prices continued amid ample new-crop supplies, combined with generally lack-lustre trade. Maize prices remain mostly unchanged from March but wheat edged slightly upward in May, largely influenced by weather conditions in the United States. FAO estimates world sugar production in 1999/2000 at 134.3 million tonnes, some 2 percent up from the previous year and above expected demand in the corresponding period. As a result, sugar prices declined through the first six months of the 1999/2000 season, reaching a 14-year low in late February. However, prices rebounded in the past two months, in response to a pick-up in import demand in several major markets, and early forecasts of reduced sugar output in 2000/01.

 

 With around 2 700 species, tropical fruits are not only a source of nutrition, but also of income generation for farmers who produce them for export.
 In global commodity trade, tropical fruits constitute a comparatively new group and since 1970, they have emerged as significant in the international marketplace.
 Export volumes of fresh tropical fruits display the fastest average annual growth rates among internationally traded food commodities.
 Advances in transportation, trade agreements and shifting consumer preferences in favour of these fruits led to trade growth.
 Tropical fruits are highly perishable during production and distribution, and so environmental challenges are among the key obstacles to sustaining production and ensuring that international markets are supplied.
 Increasingly, erratic weather events are a particularly acute challenge to growing tropical fruits because the vast majority are produced on smallholder farms of less than 5 ha where cultivation is highly dependent on rainfall.

 

 

An estimated 99 percent of tropical fruit production originates in developing countries, predominantly in Asia and Latin America and a smaller share in Africa.

 

In most producing zones, tropical fruits continue to be cultivated at the subsistence rather than the commercial level.

 

The combined exports of the four major tropical fruits represent only 5 percent of total production volume, and the remainder is consumed or otherwise utilized domestically.