Andalusia leads agri-food exports in the first half of 2021 with 23.4% of Spain’s total and almost 7,000 million euros sold on the foreign market. This means that one out of every four euros of agri-food products exported from the country, in the period from January to June 2021, originates from the Andalusian region.
This is highlighted in the latest report on agri-food foreign trade presented by the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Sustainable Development, which highlights that the value of exports reached in this first half of the year is the highest in the entire historical series, reaching almost 6,953 million euros, thanks to an increase of 6.4% compared to the period from January to June 2020.
The agri-food products that Andalusia sells most abroad are extra virgin olive oil, fresh strawberries, peppers, and tomatoes, while the main destinations are Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. The first non-EU country to appear in this ranking is the United States, which is in seventh place with an increase of 10.1% to 399.5 million euros. Also noteworthy is the 18.9% increase in the value of Andalusian agri-food products sold to China, which is in ninth place with almost 160 million euros.
As far as agri-food imports are concerned, products worth 2,231 million euros have been purchased in these six months, which represents an increase of 3.6% compared to the same period last year. However, in terms of weight, there has been a decrease of 9% to close to two million tonnes. This is the lowest figure in the last seven years.
Andalusia’s agri-food trade balance in the first half of the year showed a positive result of 4,722 million euros. This is a record figure which also represents 43% of the total positive balance for the whole of Spain. The next autonomous community with the highest agri-food balance is Murcia with 2,249 million euros.
