The successful marketing year for Spanish cucumber: export value continues to increase

The value of the Spanish cucumber exports has been gradually rising in the last 10 seasons. While the shipments of the Spanish cucumber were worth €415.9 million in the 2011/2012 season, the figure stood at €659.2 million in 2020/2021. Such a tremendous surge was achieved by a stable increase in the volume of exports and a rise in the export price.

Main importers of Spanish Cucumber

Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands were the largest importers of Spanish cucumber in the 2020/2021 season both in value and volume terms. They account for 66% of the total imports. Germany bought over 278,000 tons of cucumbers from Spain in 2020/2021, which accounts for 41% of the total Spanish overseas shipments. The UK imported 97,747 tons of cucumber or 14% of the total supplied volumes in the previous marketing year, while the Netherlands purchased 67,509 tons or 10%.

Germany has been building up imports of cucumbers from Spain in the past five years, with the purchasing volumes growing by 14%. One of the main reasons behind it is strong demand from the local market. According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the consumption of cucumber increased from 6.3 kg per capita in 2016/2017 to 7kg per capita in 2019/2020. An additional factor that contributes to the building up of the Spanish cucumber imports is a deterioration in the German production of cucumbers over the past six years (190,000 tons in 2015 versus 185,000 tons in 2020) amid the lack of labor force.

Sources:
The historical record in this campaign for the value in the export of cucumber
Cold snap hits Spanish fruit and vegetable production
German vegetable production faces a variety of challenges
Fruit Logistica
Spanish Ministry of Agriculture
Federal Ministry of Agriculture of Germany