According to preliminary data released by the FAO, the Philippines slipped from second to third place in the global banana export rankings in 2022 with a total export volume of 2.235 million mt, overtaken by Guatemala (2.467 million mt). Ecuador is the top producer with 6.216 million mt.
Data published by the Philippine Statistics Authority indicate that 2022 saw a 6.5% year-on-year decrease in the country’s banana export volume to 2.273 million mt. This figures hit their lowest levels since 2016.
There are 2 main factors that affected the industry’s performance namely, the continued spread of the fungal disease Fusarium wilt (Panama disease) and high production costs, including substantial expenses on fertilizers.
As estimated by the PBGEA, the total area affected by Fusarium wilt is between 15,000 and 36,000 hectares, corresponding to 17–40% of the 88,000 hectares planted with bananas nationwide.
Another major difficulty for the agricultural sector, the increase cost of the agro input. The fertilizer prices have eased from their 2022 peak, although they remain relatively high.
Covid-19:
Banana exports from the Philippines have been severely impacted by the pandemic. The country is expecting overseas shipments to drop and lack of harvesting due to social distancing measures and shortages in labor. Bananas in the Philippines are harvested on a regular basis, and due to lack of labor this year, a large number of bananas rotted and were subsequently thrown away.