Agri SA’s annual Snapshot of South African Agriculture reveals some fascinating insights into where the country’s fruit and vegetable exports are going. The report counts South Africa among the top exporters of a number of products.
Agricultural exports represented 10.8% of total South African exports in 2017, and came to R127.69-billion. South Africa is the second largest exporter of citrus fruit (fresh or dried) in the world, even though it is ranked 14th in citrus production. Citrus exports amounted to R18.6-billion.
As for which countries are the top importers of South African products, the Netherlands ranked number one in 2017 with R11.56-billion. Second was the UK at R9.7-billion, and perhaps surprisingly, Mozambique was third at R6.5-billion.
Aside from a cluster of other European countries which rank as major importers of South African products, including Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, a number of other Southern African countries also feature.
Zimbabwe imports R4.4-billion of South African products and Zambia is also a big importer at R3.6-billion. Other major importers are Angola, Kenya, Malawi and Mauritius.
As for what products are favoured, citrus far outstrips other produce, with the Netherlands importing the bulk of it at 400,000 tons. The UK is second at nearly 200,000 tons, and the United Arab Emirates and Russian Federation close behind.
