Apples remain a staple fruit in Germany despite poor harvest

Published Jan 19, 2025

Tridge summary

The German fruit market is dominated by apples, which saw a 12.4% drop in harvest compared to the 10-year average, the lowest since 2017 due to adverse weather conditions. Only the state of Baden-Württemberg had a good harvest, accounting for 45% of the country's total. Apples made up 87.6% of the entire fruit harvest in 2024. Plum harvest also saw a decline, with a 2.7% drop on average over the last 10 years, with the most significant decrease in Rhineland-Palatinate.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Apples continue to dominate the German fruit market, although the current season's harvest fell by 12.4% compared to the 10-season average to 872,000 tonnes, the weakest since the 2017 harvest, according to data from the German Statistical Office (Destatis). Compared to last season, the harvest was down by 7.4%. The poor result was attributed to adverse weather conditions, including late spring frosts and heavy rains, which led to crop losses of up to 90% in parts of the country's eastern regions and depressed yields everywhere except in the state of Baden-Württemberg, where farmers enjoyed a bumper harvest. The province is Germany's leading apple producer, with the harvest up 19.4% compared to the 10-season average to 395,400 tonnes, accounting for 45% of the country's total this season. Lower Saxony followed with 258,200 tonnes, although the result remained 10.3% below the average for the last 10 seasons. In contrast, in Saxony and Brandenburg, the harvest collapsed by 92.6% and ...

Source: Sinor