Weak to medium plum harvest expected in Hungary this year

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According to Eurostat data, Spain was the largest exporter of fresh plums on the EU internal market in 2024, followed by the Netherlands and Italy. In the first six months of this year, the Netherlands sold 31.8 thousand tons (+31 percent), Spain 9.0 thousand tons (–1 percent), and Italy 1.1 thousand tons (+68 percent) of plums on the EU market.

The EU’s foreign trade balance for fresh plums was negative in 2024: 60.5 thousand tons of exports were compared to 119.4 thousand tons of imports

The volume of fresh plums delivered to the European Union increased by 14 percent to 46.0 thousand tons in the first half of 2025 compared to a year earlier. From outside the borders of the community, 33.1 thousand tons of plums arrived from the Republic of South Africa (+12 percent) and 10.8 thousand tons from Chile (+61 percent).

According to data from the Hungarian Statistical Office, 35.9 thousand tons of plums were harvested from 6.85 thousand hectares in Hungary in 2024 (37.3 thousand tons were produced in 2023)

According to experts, a weak to medium harvest is expected on domestic plum orchards this year. Hungary’s foreign trade balance for fresh plums was positive in 2024: plum exports (6.1 thousand tons) exceeded imports (1.5 thousand tons). Exports were mainly directed to the Czech Republic and Poland. In the first seven months of this year, 399.1 tons of plums arrived in the country (mainly from Spain and the Netherlands), 7 percent less than in the same period of the previous year. According to AKI PÁIR data, the producer price of domestic plums on the Budapest Wholesale Market (578 HUF/kilogram) was 24 percent higher in the 29th–38th week than the average price in the same period of the previous year.

AKI PÁIR