Dates are Morocco's number one fruit and vegetable import

Fresh Date

Fruits

Morocco

Published May 25, 2023

Tridge summary

40% of the world's dates are produced in six African countries, including Morocco (according to FAOSTAT, 2021). Along with this, exports of dates from Morocco are small, while imports of this product into the country are growing, according to EastFruit. So, according to the results of 2022, Morocco is the third importer of dates in the world after India and Egypt, and in the structure of fruit and vegetable imports of the North African country, the fruit ranks first.

Original content

Moroccans have revered dates since time immemorial, the fruit is one of the key components of national dishes. This favorite delicacy, both for the inhabitants of the country and tourists, is always at the peak of popularity. It is noteworthy that in Morocco, the consumption of dates per person per year (according to 2021 data) is about 7 kg, while the average global consumption per capita is estimated at about 1 kg per person. Morocco is dynamically increasing the production of this product. From 2010 to 2021, the volume of dates grown by local farms increased by almost 50%, in the world ranking of fruit producers, the North African country ranks 14th. However, this amount is not enough to cover domestic demand, and the country is forced to increase imports. So, in 2017, 70 thousand tons of dates were imported to Moroccan markets. By 2022, the supply volumes increased to 109 thousand tons, and the cost of imports in the same year amounted to 213.3 million dollars. - 31.4% of the ...

Source: Eastfruit